Embracing the Shadows
by ForeverDarkRider
Summary: Naruto's life changes drastically when he witnesses something he shouldn't and falls into the hands of a criminal. Now he must struggle to survive in the criminal underworld while plotting his escape. Easier said than done though when the one he is trying to escape from has trained the best assassins known to the world and been in control of the underworld for over a decade. NS/SN
1. Prologue

_**Disclaimer: I do not own, have never owned, and will, unfortunately, never own **__**Naruto**__** or its characters. This will be the only disclaimer for **__**Naruto**__** in this particular story.**_

_**Genres: Angst/Suspense/Crime/Romance**_

_**WARNING: This will be a yaoi. It will contain implied situations of NaruSasu OR SasuNaru. It could probably be seen as both since everything will be implied. If there are more graphic situations, it will be in a sequel, if I do in fact choose to make one (I'm thinking about it). If you don't like it, don't read it. There will be violence, cursing, and squeamish situations, as well as mentions of drug abuse. If you are not comfortable with this, hit the back button immediately.**_

_**This is only my second Naruto fanfiction and my first time writing in **_years _**so please bear that in mind while reading.**_

**Prologue**

"Hello?" Jiraiya had barely made it to the phone before the answering machine got it. He was expecting an important call from his editor and nearly dropped his poor sleeping godson on the floor in his haste to reach it. He'd only just managed to catch the child, preventing the uncomfortable situation of having to explain a concussion to his parents and had laid him on the couch where he continued to slumber peacefully, unaware that his living lap-pillow had abandoned him. "Hello?" he said again, having gotten no response from the caller that he was aware of.

A moment passed before the person on the other line spoke in a solemn, authoritative voice, "Evening, may I speak with a – " the male voice cut off and Jiraiya heard what sounded like papers being shuffled around on the other line, "Jiraiya, Sannin, is it?" the man continued.

The speaker was obviously not his editor. "Yes, this is him," he replied after a moment. "Who is asking?" Jiraiya was never one to mince words, and he wasn't going to start now with the caller being so serious and formal.

"This is Officer Kakashi Hatake, from the Konoha Police Department. You are the godfather of one Naruto Uzumaki, correct?" The man asked.

Jiraiya paused for a moment, wondering what a police officer would want with that kind of information. "Yes," he began slowly, hesitantly, "I am the kid's godfather. What is this about?"

The man called Hatake was silent for a few seconds before replying, "I regret to inform you, Mr. Sannin, but Mr. and Mrs. Uzumaki have regrettably been in a car accident involving a drunk driver this evening. The doctor's say that the diagnosis for both of the boy's parents doesn't look good."

Jiraiya's world seemed to stop for an indefinite amount of time. Minato and Kushina were in a car accident? And possibly dying? That couldn't be true…the couple were like his own kids; the ones he never got around to producing, or so he hoped. And Naruto! He was barely six years old; he couldn't lose his parents at so young an age!

Jiraiya ignored the stinging in his eyes that signaled the threat of tears and choked out one word: "Where?"

"Konoha General Hospital. You'd better hurry if you want to let the kid have a chance to say goodbye."

_**Since this is so short, I have went ahead and posted Chapter One in order to keep things flowing smoothly. The subsequent chapters here on out will be much longer. I hope that so far, I have captured your interest and you will want to continue to read this story.**_

_**~Rider~ **_


	2. Of Friends and Hideaways

**Chapter One**

"NARUTO!"

Naruto ran from his godfather and guardian, a giant grin nearly splitting his face in half. Oh, how he loved messing with the old pervert. The man just made it too easy, what with all the peeking he did into the girls' restrooms and bath houses. All Naruto had to do was walk over to some woman and point to the man with tears in his eyes and a trembling lip and Jiraiya was ambushed by multiple women. Multiple _really pissed _women. And when Jiraiya was busy fending off stray punches and kicks aimed for the groin…

Naruto cackled in that childishly evil way that he does when he knows he gets away with something. When Jiraiya was busy, it meant that it was time for the blonde to take his wallet and go buy himself some sweets. And ramen! God, how he loved ramen. Too bad the old fart never let him have as much as he wanted. Tsunade did…Of course, that was only because she didn't know how much he had gotten from Jiraiya already. And Kakashi. And Kurenai, the social services lady…

Naruto shrugged. He found early on that with a pout and a "sad" smile, he could monopolize just about anyone. Anyone that is, except for his neighbor…

When Naruto's parents had died three years prior, his godfather had become his guardian and he had moved into the man's expensive mansion, rather than staying at his own humble home with a foster parent. How the pervert was allowed to care for him, though, was beyond Naruto's nine-year-old reasoning capabilities. After all, the man _was_ a porn novelist. One that forced Naruto to listen to him read his manuscripts aloud before they were published to ensure they were "realistic" enough. Naruto shivered. The blonde boy usually tried to avoid Jiraiya during the last few days in which he knew the old man would be doing the proofreading and making the finishing touches.

At first, he would climb a tree in Jiraiya's vast garden that was immaculately kept. Before long, though, the man had found his hiding spot and Naruto was forced to find a new one. And then that hiding spot would be found and he had to find another. And then…well, it was a never ending circle.

After running out of hiding places on his godfather's property, Naruto had no choice but to move to the neighboring property. Luckily, there was a beautiful lake with a dock that he happened to stumble upon and it became his new sanctuary, one that Jiraiya had yet to find. Unfortunately, one day he wasn't as lucky as he usually was and the neighbor boy, three years his senior, happened upon him. Needless to say, being the spoiled rich kid he was, he nearly flipped his top when he found the blonde kid. Naruto could just _see_ the thoughts behind his eyes: _Where the hell did this idiot come from? Why is he polluting my space with his filthy presence?_

Now, Naruto thought that that was pretty unfair. He wasn't _that _dirty! After all, he'd just had a bath last week. At least, he thought he had…

Shaking his head to dispel his thinking, he peered up at the boy, curiosity and anxiety mixing. What if this guy told his godfather where he was? Oh, god, then he'd have to listen to those _disgusting_ – no. No, he couldn't even bear the thought.

So lost was he in his panic that he didn't realize several minutes had gone by in complete silence with him staring at the boy in front of him, his face automatically presenting itself with the puppy eyes and shaky lip, and the boy staring right back, completely unfazed.

Finally, the raven-haired boy with the dark, seemingly depthless eyes and stoic face could no longer take the silence. "What the hell are you doing on my property, idiot?"

Naruto blinked at the comment. Did the guy just – no, he couldn't have, could he? Did he just _deflect_ the Naruto Puppy Face when it had been put on full blast? No one had ever managed that! Well, when one tactic doesn't work, resort to another! "Bastard!" he retorted. "I'm just looking, what did I do to deserve an insult, huh!" _Well_, Naruto inwardly shrugged, _if you can't beat 'em with a nerf bullet to the eye, punch 'em in the gut! Or…something like that._

Said "bastard" smirked. The kid had a mouth on him for someone so young. Not that he could say much, he was probably saying worse things at his age. "You invaded my space, that's what you did. Are you an Uchiha?"

"Wha?" Naruto was taken aback by the question. Was this guy stupid? Naruto's neighbors' surname was Uchiha, wasn't it? He thought so, which would make this guy an Uchiha, meaning he _knew_ Naruto wasn't an Uchiha, since they weren't related. Was the guy touched in the head? He'd met him once before, come to think of it. He had an older brother; Itaki, or something like that. Which meant he was the youngest brother. Now what was his name, again?

"I said, idiot," the guy iterated slowly, as if to a dimwit, "are you an Uchiha?"

"Uh…no?" Naruto replied slowly. He thought his name started with an S or something…

"Then," he said, almost sweetly, "get. Off. My. Dock!" The last part was spat as if at some vermin that had the unfortunate luck to have crossed his path.

"Ah!" Naruto suddenly exclaimed, startling the older male slightly. Not that he would ever outwardly show it. _Now_ he remembered the guy's name. Jiraiya had joked about it after the Uchiha family had left the Sannin home when Naruto had first moved in. It was – "Sass-Uke!"

Sasuke blinked. Did this blonde-haired, blue-eyed _idiot_ just call him what Sasuke thought he called him? No, he couldn't have. He wasn't _that_ stupid, was he? "What did you call me?" he asked, voice dangerously quiet.

Naruto smiled that big, goofy smile that was his trademark. "Sass-Uke! That's your name! I remember it now," he chirped proudly. He usually wasn't very good with names.

"My name," Sasuke bit out harshly, venom dripping from his words, "is Sasuke. _Not_ Sass-Uke. I am in no way, shape, or form gay, and even if I were, which I'm _not,_" he reiterated, tossing a glare at the dumbass before him, "there is no possible way that I would be anything but seme."

Naruto looked "Sasuke" up and down, remembering now that that was indeed how his name was really pronounced, before smirking and replying, "Are you sure? That pretty-boy face and stick up your ass say otherwise."

Sasuke managed to hold himself together for a full minute – _a whole damn minute_ – (which he was rather proud of, mind you), telling himself that _He's just a kid,_ and _Think of the trouble I'll get in if I commit manslaughter before I even turn thirteen_, before he pounced on the boy.

Sasuke took advantage of the younger boy's shock at the sudden lunge and managed a solid punch to the jaw. It didn't take long for Naruto to recover and retaliate with fists and feet flying in every direction. It was clear who had the more experience in fighting but the determined blonde wasn't going to go down without a fight. Before long, the expected outcome came to a pass and Naruto sat pinned underneath Sasuke, the older boy's glare on full blast, but his gaze never wavered for a moment

Then, something unexpected happened. The bastard…_smiled. _He friggin' smiled! At Naruto! And then something even crazier happened…he _laughed. _The blonde looked on in something of a mixture of confusion, curiosity, and horror. He was confused as to what was so amusing, but at the same time wondered what it was. And the horror stemmed from the fact that he had never, _never_, seen _anyone _from the Uchiha household laugh or smile, not even at a funny joke! Okay, so Naruto wasn't exactly buddy-buddy with any of the Uchiha family members but he had seen them greet people at parties they hosted, or sit on their patio, which was visible from Jiraiya's garden observatory, or even when so-called "friends" came over for both Sasuke and Itaki-whatever-his-name-was. So…what the hell was so damn funny that one of _them_ was sitting here, on top of Naruto, which was quite uncomfortable for the blonde, and _laughing his freaking head off!_

Naruto had had enough. "Okay, bastard, get your fat butt off of me and tell me what is so friggin' funny!" he demanded.

Sasuke momentarily stopped his uncontrollable laughter, looked down at Naruto's face, and simply broke out laughing once more.

Naruto couldn't help it. He was not one to hold a grudge – okay, maybe he was. But! He was one who could laugh things off, especially when the laughter from the other person was so contagious.

Neither knew how long they stayed like that, laughing without pause, Sasuke still sitting atop Naruto who was _still_ pinned to the ground, their sides aching from the sweet torture of uncontrollable mirth. Soon, however, the laughter died and the two shared an understanding of sorts: one of escape and freedom from obligations and high expectations.

Before long, the two had finally caught their breath and Sasuke stood up, offering a hand to help his new blonde…ally to his feet. "Come on, idiot, before you catch a cold lying on the ground."

Naruto took the hand Sasuke held out before the words sunk in and he playfully punched Sasuke in the shoulder, exclaiming, "The name's Naruto, you bastard!"

And from that day on, the Uchiha Lake dock had been his sanctuary from all things porn-related.

_**I hope that this chapter wasn't too boring. I understand that things are progressing slowly but it will take time to work up to the main climax of the story. I wanted to bring Sasuke in early on so that character development can begin and I am trying to keep him as much in character as possible while still suiting my needs for this story. (Of course, the laughing isn't really in character, but it was necessary in order to show the pent-up anxiety he is experiencing at the moment with everything going on.)**_

_**Remember, I love to get feedback on my writing, character progression, and plot as well as grammar, story structure, etcetera. Please leave a review with your opinion; I value every response that I receive.**_

_**~Rider~ **_


	3. A Memorable Day

**Chapter Two**

"Heeey! Sass-Ukeeeee," Naruto greeted Sasuke in his traditional way. The one that he just _knew_ annoyed the older male to no end. Man, was it fun!

"Hn," Stick-Up-His-Ass Sasuke replied in his usual trademark way. The phrase conveyed all of his annoyance in that one syllable. Not that his blonde friend paid any particular attention to that or the glare sent his way. He was practically immune by now. Who wouldn't be, after three whole years of being the victim of that Death Duo?

"Aww, come on," Naruto whined, "don't you have anything nicer to say to your old pal who you haven't seen in _three whole days_?" Naruto made sure to use his secret weapon combined with his pitiful lip tremble: the puppy eyes.

Unfortunately, it seemed that Sasuke was also immune to Naruto's antics, just as Naruto was immune to his. "Don't even try that with me, idiot," he said scathingly, peeved at the blonde's continued use of the name he had mistakenly applied to Sasuke when they had first met.

Naruto pouted. "Why you gotta be so mean to your best fwiend, Sass-Uke…" Naruto's lip trembled and he looked around at the group of friends Sasuke had with him at the moment. He recognized all of them since he had basically been a part of the group himself for a while now. Not that Sasuke was all too happy about him invading his social circle but – Naruto shrugged – oh, well. It wasn't Sasuke's decision to make as to who he befriended and who befriended him. Honestly, though, Naruto thought that Sasuke was just peeved about it because the blonde had a way of getting under his skin and showing his friends a side of him they had never seen. Whether it be a nearly-unnoticeable smile or an annoyed frown, it didn't matter; expression of emotion to an Uchiha meant public humiliation in their eyes and so of course it bothered Sasuke that the blonde could get so much out of him. Not that he even got a whole lot to begin with.

"Come on, man, the dude practically _worships you_ and this is how you treat him?"

"Hey!" Naruto cried out at the indignity, but Sasuke ignored him.

Instead, he turned to look at the idiot – not the blonde one this time, but the mangy one that he somehow included as a "friend" in this odd group of people. In truth, it was really Naruto that had shown them that they had something in common, even if it was only their mutual distaste of cats. Of course, they disliked them for different reasons – Sasuke because they were constantly coughing up hairballs, tracking piss-moistened cat litter everywhere they walked, and continuously shredding everything they got hold of, and the mangy brunette, Kiba, simply because his slobbering, over-sized dog was terrified of them and their sharp claws. Then again, Kiba was more friends with Naruto than with him, anyway, so who cared what the idiot thought?

"Shut it, mutt. I've got plenty of worshippers, unlike you, so why would I need a blonde idiot to be included in that count?" he retorted smugly.

Kiba scowled. "Don't call me a mutt!" he practically growled, at the same time Naruto shouted out a quick "bastard!" at Sasuke.

Sakura, the pink-haired girl with an unhealthy obsession with the youngest Uchiha then piped up: "Relax, guys, Sasuke only speaks the truth, you know," the girl practically swooned.

Sasuke rolled his eyes at the annoying girl. Why did he let her hang around again? Oh yeah, because the blonde idiot had a crush on her and annoyed the hell out of him if Sasuke didn't invite her along. Which reminded him: how had he gotten dragged into meeting these people at an amusement park? Being seen at such a place would ruin his no-fun-allowed Uchiha reputation. Not that he cared, of course. Uchihas don't care about such petty things as reputations…obviously. But seriously, he really needed to work on turning Naruto down. Then he inwardly shuddered, imagining the crying and whining that would result from that and immediately shot down the thought.

"Hey!" Kiba barked, "Why do you always have to take his side! You _do_ realize that he was insulting me, right Sakura?"

Sakura opened her mouth to respond but was interrupted when two other members of their group of friends arrived. Immediately, Kiba blushed and looked down and sideways, away from the girl he had had a crush on since…well, forever: Hinata. But damn, why'd she have to bring her bastard-of-a-cousin, Neji, with her? That guy almost made Sasuke look like a flamboyant fruit loop. Almost.

"Hey, Hinata," Kiba mumbled shyly. He was a little hurt when she didn't even take notice of him, only having eyes for the guy that Kiba could pretty much call his best friend.

"H-h-hi, N-Naruto," Hinata stuttered, almost incoherently. "Y-you are well, I-I hope?"

Naruto's face lit up with a beatific grin. He really liked Hinata, despite her near-babbling and shyness. "I'm good, Hinata!" He said cheerfully. When she blushed a bright red, his smile shrunk a little into confusion. He really wasn't sure, but Hinata always acted differently around the young blonde. Maybe it was the three-year age difference between him and his friends? Trying to lighten the mood, he winked at her, unknowingly setting flight little butterflies in Hinata's stomach at the gesture and causing Kiba to hide a scowl at the blonde's oblivious advances.

When Shikamaru, Ino, and Chouji arrived, the group decided that the others couldn't make it, seeing as it was already a half hour after they had planned to meet, and chose to buy their tickets and start on some rides. The whole point of this trip, though Sasuke chose to adamantly ignore it, was an idiotic setup. It was some sort of ploy made by his friends that was completely uncoordinated and poorly planned out. And who had started it all? The blonde idiot, of course.

Naruto knew of Kiba's affections for Hinata and had decided to play match-maker. Of course, the blonde hadn't wanted to make things awkward, so he had invited their whole group of friends along to the amusement park, including himself. Because of that, Sakura had jumped on the chance at a "date" with Sasuke. Ino, thinking along the same lines as her pink-haired friend, also assumed that this was finally her chance to nab the Uchiha for herself. That had resulted in loud fighting that the two girls had unsuccessfully attempted to hide from Sasuke, before Naruto had shown up, late as usual. Before the peaceful silence that had strangely accompanied him, though, the fighting had annoyed Kiba, who had then picked some pointless fight with Sasuke about whether tomatoes or apples were a better fruit – which Sasuke had won, thankyouverymuch! – causing tensions to run high before the last three friends that were attending showed up. Now that Sasuke's nerves were suitably frazzled – no, Uchiha nerves _do not frazzle_, he was just tired – he had a blonde idiot to thank.

"Uzumaki!" He called, in a very controlled, Uchiha-like way, of course.

Naruto turned at the sound of his surname, brow arched. What did _he_ want? "Yes, bastard?"

Sasuke chose to ignore the insult. "What's your excuse for being late today, idiot?" Not that he cared. Or was curious. It was just…standard, polite protocol for an Uchiha.

Naruto grinned, something Sasuke never liked to see on the blonde's face. "You'll see, Sasssss-Ukeee," he drawled.

Sasuke nearly groaned aloud.

**...**

They had just gotten finished riding the biggest, baddest roller coaster in the whole park and had yet to finish recovering when Naruto was already dragging them all to some unknown location.

"Come on guys, you'll love it!" he kept calling to his unenthusiastic company.

"Naruto," Sasuke managed to grind out while trying not to do the undignified thing of puking right there in the midst of all the park-goers, "where in the hell are you taking us?" the fifteen-year-old ground out.

Naruto merely flashed a grin back at his raven-haired friend, whose wrist he had a vice-grip on in order to prevent an escape. The others were close behind. "Just wait and see, bastard!"

The blonde proceeded to lead Sasuke and the rest to some unknown location that, apparently, had been preordained, seeing as chairs were set out when they arrived. They were located on what looked like an abandoned highway bridge, one that had been left to crumble after a new one had been built in order to direct traffic directly past the amusement park they had just departed from about two and a half miles away. Sasuke didn't know if it was safe to traverse the thing, much less if they were allowed to be there. Probably not. "What are we doing here, idiot?" he bit out, still a little queasy and not wanting to hang over a bridge to look at the ground some-fifty feet below them.

Naruto pulled out his cell phone and looked at the time. "About thirty more seconds," he replied before taking a seat and gazing up at the star-lit sky. It must have been around nine o'clock by now, which meant that they had been at the amusement park for a good five hours.

Having nothing else to do, Naruto's group of odd pals, including Sasuke, though he would later deny it, also seated themselves and turned their heads up to gawk at the sky, wondering what the hell Naruto was seeing that they weren't. It wasn't long before they got their answer.

Kiba let out a yelp, causing Hinata, who was standing next to him, to startle and make an amusing sort of squeak before realizing that the loud boom they heard was not a threat. Why they were going off, they had no idea as of yet, but none of them bothered to ask. The girls had managed to quit their squabbling about an hour ago and just enjoy their time with their friends and now they were "ooh"-ing and "ahh"-ing at the sight of the fireworks above them, each pointing with a finger at a particularly radiant one at different points in time.

When the fireworks had finished going off twenty minutes after they had started, Naruto turned to Sasuke with a gentle smile on his face. "Happy birthday, Sasuke," he murmured, pulling out, from who-knows-where, a card and a picture frame with a picture of himself, Sasuke and Sakura. Sasuke stood in the middle of the two, adamantly refusing to crack a smile at Naruto's attempt to keep a straight face at the camera for once while Sakura made funny faces at him from Sasuke's left. That had been the day when Naruto had made a bet with Sasuke: Naruto could make him smile for a full ten seconds and when he did, Sasuke had to wear a frilly pink hat to class for a day. Sasuke's return bet was that he couldn't keep from smiling or laughing for more than five minutes. His prize would be a temporary henna tattoo on his stomach that said: SASUKE IS A SEX GOD AND NARUTO IS A FRUIT LOOP. With the event of this picture…they had both lost. There were pictures somewhere of each of their endeavors but at the risk of them being spread around for the public view, they had both kept the photos to themselves.

Sasuke took the card and the frame, only allowing the small smile to grace his lips for a millisecond before shoving it back away. He would never reveal to anyone just how touched he was by the small gesture of camaraderie. Least of all the blonde devil that would hold it against him for all eternity.

Nevertheless, he was grateful for the friendship he had with the blonde. Never before had someone understood him so fully as the blonde did. He found it odd since the idiot was still only twelve years old, but still…he would never figure out how it was that Naruto knew that Sasuke hadn't wanted any expensive presents bought from a store, since his family had enough money that he could buy anything he wanted and more. He just knew that he would have to suffer through the polite "thank you's" that were sure to come when his other friends brought out their lavish store-bought gifts (which he wasn't supposed to receive until tomorrow, come to think of it; it seems that cupid wasn't the only role that Naruto was playing that night). He had only known Naruto for three years and had known his other friends practically his whole life. After all, rich kids the same age stuck together; it was good for future business. Yet Naruto was the one who knew him best. He guessed that made him…his best friend. Right?

Of course, he'd never share this with Naruto at the risk of further inflating his ego. Ever.

"Hn," he finally replied. To anyone else, it may have sounded cold, but to Naruto, it was the most sincere thanks he would ever get from anyone.

_**I realize that Sasuke is a bit of a "talkative" softie so far. Unfortunately, he will remain in this style for most, if not all of my story. Although, Sasuke has to change at least a little for a pairing with Naruto to even work as it is so I feel that I am justified in doing this.**_

_**I wanted to introduce some of the other characters that will be seen throughout the story now, before something major comes up, so that I don't have to stop the storyline to explain how everyone met, how they get along, who's crushing on who, etcetera. I hope it doesn't seem too rushed in this, as of now, slow-moving plot. I also introduced some humor here, which is not my strong point. I've always been a sucker for a good angst/adventure story so I'm trying my best to add some laughable points in order to lighten the mood some. I will continue to do so throughout the story unless someone informs me that I'm absolutely terrible at it and should stop while I am ahead.**_

_**So! Things really start to pick up in the next two chapters. I hope you can stick with me until then!**_

_**~Rider~ **_


	4. Case In Motion

**Chapter Three**

Naruto was known to be a happy-go-lucky guy, always has been, and probably always would be. His philosophy was that if you were upset about something, moping about and feeling sorry for yourself was always going to make things seem even worse. So, when the blonde was upset, he would find something that he loved to do and go do it. It always seemed to make him feel better and before long, he was back to his normal, peppy self. If a friend was down, he would prance around like a fool and crack jokes left and right just to get them to smile. However, there had always been one occasion in which he just couldn't manage to muster a smile; not even a fake one.

The anniversary of his parents' deaths.

The date was fast approaching and would be upon him within the week and he could feel the knowledge of it slowly sapping him of his energy and reducing the size of his smile. His friends always tried to keep his thoughts off of it but knew that it wasn't likely, since they had witnessed the blonde's transformation on the two prior anniversaries. This time, they had decided to take him out to his favorite place in the world: Ichiraku Ramen.

As he thought about eating those delicious noodles, he bounded down the mansion stairs, landing in the foyer with a loud _thump_. He knew Jiraiya had probably heard him so he rushed to the hooks on the wall to grab his house keys. The old man always had some sort of lecture for him before he went places, seeing as how he was hardly ever home anymore; this week especially.

He had just reached the front door when Jiraiya stepped out of his office at the end of the hall and noticed his godson preparing to leave. "Naruto," he called, "do you have a minute?"

Naruto sighed quietly. _Well, here it comes,_ he thought as he turned to face his guardian. "I guess, but I was just about to go and meet the guys for ramen. Can it wait?"

"No, I'd like to talk to you. Come sit down for a second," Jiraiya replied.

Naruto reluctantly followed the older man down the hall and to the right, into the large living area. He sprawled himself across the large, comfy leather couch, effectively preventing Jiraiya from sitting next to him. It always made things more awkward. Picking up the remote from the coffee table in front of him, he flipped on the large cinematic television screen mounted on the wall directly across from him and began browsing channels.

With a sigh, Jiraiya took the remote from Naruto's hand, ignoring the half-hearted protest he got, turned the TV off, and sat in the lazy boy chair diagonal to the boy. "Naruto," he began, "You know I'm here for you if you need to talk, right? Tsunade, too, and I could always call Kurenai…"

"No!" the blonde exclaimed before he could stop himself. He was always uncomfortable when Jiraiya brought this stuff up and wondered _why_ he couldn't just drop it for once. He didn't need to talk to someone; he just needed to mourn in peace. "No," he replied in a calmer tone. "I'm fine, ya pervy old man. I don't need to talk to anyone, I promise." He knew Jiraiya was just trying to help and that Tsunade would listen to him quietly before giving some kind of awkward answer to try and help. Kurenai was a good person and Naruto liked her well enough, but she was a social worker. He didn't want things that he potentially blurted out to be put down in some file to be read by a stranger later on. No way. Besides, he was fine.

Jiraiya watched him for a long time, to the point that Naruto began to squirm under his scrutiny. He hoped that the man wouldn't see through his half-lie. "All right," he conceded, dropping the subject for now, "but we do still need to talk about some other things."

Naruto eyed him. "Like what?" he asked hesitantly.

"How about your grades, for one?"

Naruto inwardly groaned. Not this again. School bored him so he was always skipping class, not that Jiraiya knew, and the resulting effect was that his grades were slowly, albeit steadily, declining. "I told you, I'm working on it. I don't get things as quickly as the other kids in my classes," he lied. In truth, he was actually a very bright kid, which was why his average classes bored him so much and he missed out on so many class assignments and projects. He always managed to get C's on his tests, though he knew he could do better. If he started acing everything, though, his teachers would find out how advanced he really was, which meant he would have to start taking honor's classes. Which meant more thinking, more of an urgency to attend class, and more work to do. No, thanks.

"I know, Naruto, but don't you think that maybe you should start spending more time on your class assignments and less time hanging out with your friends?" _Uh-oh_, Naruto thought, _I hope he doesn't start with his usual spiel…_Unfortunately, Naruto was not so lucky. "Which reminds me, kid: shouldn't you start hanging out with people your own age instead of a bunch of fifteen-year-olds? Wouldn't you rather hang out with some twelve-year-olds that you have more in common with?"

Jiraiya was under the impression that Naruto hung out with the older kids because it made him feel cooler or something stupid like that. Truth was, he just couldn't relate to any of the kids in his class because all they seemed to want to do was play pranks, talk about the opposite sex, and try to beat each other at the latest video game. Not that there wasn't a lot of that going around with his group of friends, but it didn't seem as…childish with them as it did with his classmates. There wasn't any whining or crying when a prank went too far, or talks about how a girl came in wearing a tank top and baring her shoulders (with the older guys, it was miniskirts that showed off the cheeks instead), and when someone lost a video game, there wasn't any crying, screaming, tattling, or anything like that but instead it was more along the lines of _You cheated, asshole, rematch time!_ and everyone went on their merry ways. Things were a lot more mature and relaxing around Sasuke and the others and maybe it was because he had experienced seeing his parents lying in hospital beds, chunks of flesh missing from their bodies, bandages wrapped everywhere, their faces white as ghosts, and watching their heart monitors flatline, but he didn't act like a normal twelve-year-old was supposed to act.

"Naruto?" Jiraiya questioned. The boy's face had suddenly paled slightly and the man correctly guessed it was because he was thinking about the horrors involving his parents. The only positive thing that came from that event was meeting the head doctor/hospital director, Tsunade, whom he later started exclusively dating.

Naruto looked up at Jiraiya, shaking off his melancholy thoughts. "No," he said, remembering the question he had been asked, "I like my friends."

"I know you do," the older man replied, "but don't you think it would be nice to have a few friends your own age that you could hang out with as well?"

Naruto shook his head. "I like my friends, and I'm keeping them. There's no one in my class that I really get along with."

"Naruto, are you being bullied?" Jiraiya had had the suspicion for a while now, since he had never seen the boy even _talk_ to someone his own age. He couldn't imagine why anyone would want to bully someone like him but he supposed it was a possibility.

"No!" Naruto was quick to reassure. "Everyone at school are really friendly, I just don't have any desire to hang out with them. Sasuke and Kiba and the others are my best friends. I don't need anyone else." Naruto stood up from the couch, looking Jiraiya directly in the eye. "I'm fine. I don't need anyone to talk to, I don't need different friends, and I'm going to be late for ramen." With that, he walked out of the living room to the front door, quickly pulled his shoes on, and left.

Jiraiya was left sitting there wondering how Naruto had gotten away from him, _again,_ before Jiraiya had gotten him to read his latest book. He thought it was an excellent work of literature. "Damn teenagers…" he muttered. And then he remembered that Naruto had yet to turn thirteen. If he was like this before his teenage years, what was he going to be like when he hit that mark? Jiraiya groaned.

**…**

"Hey, Naruto!" Kiba called out loudly to his best friend as he finally arrived. He was sitting in a booth at the back of the store, Hinata and Shikamaru with him, Chouji and Ino seated at a table next to them that they had pulled over. Sasuke, Sakura, Ino, and Neji sat across from them. "I thought you weren't gonna make it."

Naruto grinned. "You know I'd never miss out on a chance for free ramen!" he called gleefully. Maybe ramen couldn't help him completely forget the date coming up but it certainly did a lot of help. He flashed a smile at his pink-haired crush. "Did you miss me?" he asked.

Sakura snorted from her position on one side of Sasuke. "Yeah, right, idiot. Actually, we all had a running bet on what had happened to you."

"I said you fell down a well," Kiba piped up.

Naruto smirked. Ah, Kiba made it too easy to make fun of him. "What's that, Lassie? Someone in the well?"

Kiba growled and prepared to lunge for a laughing Naruto when Shikamaru grabbed his shoulder. He was too tired to deal with getting kicked out of the restaurant today. Naruto flashed him a grateful grin. Shikamaru just gave a small nod in return.

"I figured that all that porn had finally poisoned your mind and you were lying somewhere unconscious, drooling all over yourself."

Naruto mock-glared at Sasuke. "And you didn't come to help me, you bastard!"

Sasuke just smirked before scowling at the blonde clutching his one arm in a vice, with Sakura on the other. If Naruto had been on time like he should have been, he could have had the seat against the wall and Naruto would have been at his side, blocking the annoying girls. Another thing that he would have to punish the blonde idiot for later.

With Naruto finally in attendance, he took his seat next to Neji, across from Hinata, and ordered a miso-pork ramen with a coke from a passing waitress. The others had already ordered their food. Naruto could easily catch up with – and surpass – them in ramen-eating.

"U-um," a voice began. Naruto didn't have to look up to know it was Hinata. "S-s-so why _were_ you late, N-Naruto? I-If it's okay t-to ask, of course."

Naruto flashed her a grin. "Of course it's okay, Hinata! We're friends! Anyway, it was just Jiraiya being –"

_Ramen, ramen, I love you!  
Ramen, ramen, dream come true.  
Ramen, ramen, cheap as fuck,  
Ramen, ramen, I'd buy you for a buck!  
Ramen!  
Ra-ah-men!_

Naruto chuckled and rubbed the back of his neck in the way that shows he's embarrassed as a blush began to form. "Uhh…that's my cell ringing, sorry guys," he said sheepishly as he got up from the table and stepped outside of the restaurant for a moment. "Hello," he answered after the third ring.

_"Naruto?"_

"Kakashi! Hey! What are you calling me for?" the blonde asked in genuine delight. It wasn't often that he got to talk to the cop, which was a shame; he really liked him. They had been pretty close since Kakashi had been the leading officer on his parents' case. The drunk driver that had made a hit-and-run had never been caught and, even though it wasn't a part of his job, the man continued to investigate and try to find who the person was, for Naruto's sake. The man hardly ever called Naruto unless it was pertaining to that, so Naruto guessed it was a "business" call. His suspicions were confirmed at the officer's next words.

_"I've got some more information on the case involving your parents. I figured you would want to be the first to know,"_ the man answered from the other line.

"You know it!" Naruto exclaimed, forcing his voice to remain cheery, though he could feel the cold fingers of dread creeping up his spine. He was supposed to be _forgetting_ that his parents' death anniversary was coming up, not dragging new information about it into the light of day.

_"I've found a suspect for the hit-and-run and I'm going to question him in a couple hours. I'm only telling you this because you have a right to know. Technically, I can lose my job for giving out classified information, especially since I'm not even supposed to be working on this case."_

Naruto could tell that the man was giving him a warning not to tell anyone about anything Kakashi might say about this suspect, or any other information the man may give to him. "I understand," he replied. And he did. One slip-up and the suspect could escape or the media could catch wind of things and ruin all of Kakashi's careful planning and scheming to bring this guy down. Whoever he was.

_"Good,"_ Kakashi said, satisfied. _"Meet me tomorrow at two at Sharingan Café and we'll talk more then. I'll tell you what I find out from the guy."_

"Deal," Naruto said and hung up, knowing that Kakashi had nothing more to say.

He then proceeded to return to the café and pretend to laugh and be happy with his friends, acting as if he hadn't been told that his parents' murderer may have finally been found.

About damn time.

_**First, a **__**disclaimer**__**: I do not own the Ramen Song, which I used for Naruto's ringtone. I'm not sure who wrote it and owns it, but IT IS NOT ME.**_

_**You will soon find out that the hit-and-run of Naruto's parents is not the main plot for this story so try not to think too badly of me rushing this along. I promise that it is for a reason.**_

_**Also, I realize that Jiraiya is kind of the "perverted-yet-responsible" guy here. I like to think that that is also the case in Kishimoto's world so I have kept him this way.**_

_**Unfortunately, I'm going out of the country for a few weeks, which means no update until after I get back…**_

_**On a brighter note, I love reviews. Last chapter that I will post without getting reviews. I do so enjoy them but I have the whole story set up in my mind so if no one else enjoys this story, I can keep it to myself. ^_^**_

_**~Rider~ **_


	5. Revelations and Abductions

**Chapter Four**

Sasuke could tell that something was up with the blonde idiot, ever since he got that phone call at Ichiraku's. He knew that _that date_ was drawing near, but he thought that it was…something _more_ than that. He seemed sad and distant, even with the smiles and laughter, but there was also an anxiousness or anticipation of something.

The two were currently walking back from the restaurant they had just vacated. Their other friends had gone on to different places where they had things to get done and now the two friends were alone. Since they were neighbors, they usually walked home together whenever they went out to places, and this time was no exception. The only difference was the blonde's contemplative silence that, though the Uchiha would never admit it, sort of unnerved him. It was unusual for the younger male to be so quiet.

"Hn. Idiot," he suddenly said, just to get a rise out of the younger.

"…Bastard," he got after a moment's hesitation, though the boy's heart wasn't really into it. He returned to his disquieting thoughts without further ado, leaving Sasuke at a loss as to what to do now. Their walk home had never been this quiet. There was always conversation flowing, however one-sided it may have been. That's probably the thing Sasuke liked most about Naruto: he would talk and talk but never expected a response from Sasuke which Sasuke was grateful for. He never was much of a talker. Strangely enough, though, he didn't mind when Naruto babbled on about some pointless thing or another.

"Careful, idiot," he baited, "I can practically _see _the smoke coming from your ears." That particular taunt usually worked when all else failed.

"Hey," Naruto said with a scowl, "don't you have better things to do than insult me?"

Sasuke smirked. "Of course," he drawled, "but it just so happens that pissing you off is my favorite passed time."

The blonde's scowl deepened. "Course it is."

Sasuke's smirk faded. Now something was _definitely _up. His friend didn't seem like something was particularly wrong, just that there was something on his mind that he couldn't shake. "What's up, idiot?" he asked in what was an expression of genuine concern for an Uchiha.

Naruto paused, seeming to debate whether to confide in his best friend or not. "Nothing, bastard, just thinking about things."

"Your parents?" Sasuke asked, already knowing the answer.

"Yeah, just thinking about some things."

Sasuke let the silence settle around them for a moment before asking, "What kinds of things?" It was uncharacteristic for him to ask about someone's personal life, usually, but the blonde was also acting out of character and it kind of caught him off guard.

"Just that…" the blonde paused to gather his thoughts and think of the appropriate words, "I don't really remember them anymore. I remember their faces but only because I have pictures of them. I don't remember their voices or anything we used to do together or anything."

Sasuke could tell that it bothered Naruto that he seemed to be forgetting his parents. "Idiot. It's been six years since they died and you were only six years old at the time. It's not surprising."

"Yeah, but…I still feel like I'm betraying them," he murmured sadly.

Sasuke didn't know what else to say to that, other than, "Hn." Comforting someone wasn't his forte.

**…**

After dropping Sasuke off at his place, since they came to it first, Naruto made his way into his godfather's house, kicking off his shoes as he went, and walked to the kitchen to drop off the takeout he had brought home for Jiraiya. It wasn't exactly the man's favorite food, but since Naruto brought it home, he always ate it no matter what.

Sitting himself upon a bar stool at the breakfast bar, he crossed his arms on the hard surface with a sigh and put his head down. Lying to Sasuke (well, only partially) about what he was really thinking about felt wrong; he didn't usually keep secrets from his best friend. However, Kakashi had said not to tell anyone, which included Sasuke. Not that Sasuke would ever tell a soul but Naruto had given Kakashi his word and he never went back on it, ever.

Dragging himself away from his sulking at the bar, he made his way back out to the long, wide hall, and over to the stairs. Climbing them slowly, he thought about what he might find out from Kakashi and what he would do with the information. Would he want revenge? Would he try to forgive him? Would he yell and rant and scream and throw an all-out temper tantrum like some five-year-old? Would he finally snap and laugh until he couldn't breathe? Would he cry?

Or would he not do anything at all and just resign himself to the fact that the past was the past and couldn't be changed? That the man – or so he assumed, he supposed it could be a woman – had killed his parents and nothing he did now could bring them back to life?

Arriving at his room, Naruto let out another bone-weary sigh. He would just have to wait and see what happened tomorrow at his meeting with Kakashi. It wasn't even concluded whether or not Kakashi's suspect really _was_ the one who had killed his parents, and even if he were, there may not be enough evidence left to back up an arrest. What would Naruto do then, knowing his parents' killer was running free?

Not wanting to stress himself out any more than he already was to begin with, he flopped on his bed face-first and hugged his pillow under his chin, staring at the picture hanging on the wall in front of him and trying not to think of tomorrow. It was a picture of him sitting on his dad's shoulders, a large grin on his face where he had just finished giggling from a tickle war. His father had a matching one on his face and his mom was smiling sweetly up at the both of them. It was the last picture taken of them all together before the accident. In fact, Jiraiya had taken it the day before, outside on their lawn. Naruto's eyes stung but he blinked away the tears. He had promised at his parents' graves last year that he wouldn't cry like a baby anymore when something unfortunate happened to him. He would tough it out, just like his dad had when things happened, strong as he was.

It was a little too early to go to bed and Naruto wanted to be well rested for tomorrow, so he flipped the TV on his nightstand on and turned on some action movie he didn't know. It wasn't long after it ended that he fell asleep, thinking about the last memory he had with his parents.

**…**

Naruto arrived at the Sharingan Café a half hour later than the time he was supposed to be there. Kakashi was always late to everything and had an excuse every time so it wasn't a surprise that he wasn't there when Naruto walked in. He knew that he still had at least a little bit of a wait yet so he chose a small booth that faced the door so he could see when Kakashi got there and ordered himself a hot chocolate with extra marshmallows and a little mint. It was his favorite and he was never much for coffee like the silver-haired officer seemed to be. Sometimes it was almost like the man thrived on it, like a plant with sunlight.

Sure enough, Naruto ended up waiting over a half hour for Kakashi and it was a little after three before the man walked in with some excuse just dangling on his tongue. On most occasions, Naruto would let the man give his excuse, merely for the fact that, as bizarre as they were – such as the time that an overly obese woman had lost her cat and Kakashi had found it squished between her butt cheeks – they were sometimes true. Naruto always got a laugh out of the man's stories, whether they were true events or not. This time however, he didn't really have much of the patience for them.

"Save your excuse for another time, Kakashi," he cut in before the cop could start his spiel, "tell me about your meeting with this new suspect."

Kakashi closed his mouth, having opened it to tell Naruto about how some homeless guy had pissed on his windshield and then sprayed it with some kind of solidifying chemical so that it stuck, forcing Kakashi to be late in order to scrape it all off with a pen cap – true story.

"All right," he said, sitting down and smiling, "but first –" He waved over a waitress, who gave him an odd look, telling Naruto that she knew the cop across from him and wasn't all that pleased to see him. "I'll take a caramel mocha iced coffee with a splash of lemon juice, but no lemon with almond milk instead of regular, a hint of chocolate and mint aftertaste, and a cinnamon blueberry raisin bagel with mixed berry cream cheese, I Can't Believe It's Not Butter, and just a tad bit of orange zest on the side only." He paused, looking up at the waitress with a too-innocent smile on his face. "You got all that?"

"Yes," the waitress bit out before turning on her heel and stalking off.

Naruto turned away from the girl to look at Kakashi. "What was that about? And what the hell is with all that weird stuff you just ordered?"

"What," Kakashi asked, "all I ordered was a coffee and a bagel."

Naruto scoffed. "Yeah, a weird ass coffee and bagel. What'd you do to the waitress?" he asked suspiciously.

Kakashi looked as smug as the bird who ate the canary. "I'm hurt Naruto, why would you think that I _did_ something to her?" he asked with a mock pout.

"Because," Naruto drawled, "you're as perverted as Jiraiya. You read all his books – more than once, I might add – with a creepy grin on your face the entire time. How can you _enjoy_ that stuff?" He shuddered.

"Ah, Naruto, you simply don't understand the great masterpieces that your godfather creates. I mean, this one scene in Icha Icha volume four is just…_unbelievably realistic_. It makes me giddy just thinking about it." The man smiled maliciously. "Shall I describe it to you?"

"No, no, I get the hint! I won't ask, though I just know it's something perverted. Probably groped her or somethin'. "

Kakashi smiled and gave a quick "thank you" to the waitress as she arrived and set his order on the table in front of him before hauling ass away from the man. Surprisingly, when he took a sip of his iced coffee and a small nibble of his bagel, zest on the side, he found that it was correct down to the last detail and nodded in appreciation before broaching the subject for their meeting. "So, shall we get down to business?"

Naruto immediately perked up and set his hot chocolate down on the table, forgetting that he was about to take a sip. It was his third cup anyway, so he wasn't too worried about it. He stared at the man and nodded for him to continue.

"Shall I start from the beginning, then?" he asked, waiting for Naruto's slight head nod for the go-ahead. "I found out about this guy by asking around in the neighborhood where the accident took place," he began. "Some elderly woman had seen him running from the scene but hadn't thought much of it since she hadn't seen him get out of the car. I checked the file over again and found out that the driver of the other vehicle would have been thrown from it upon impact since he wasn't wearing a seatbelt. The windshield was broken, so this seemed to fit the bill.

"When I left her residence, I walked around and talked to all the local thugs that hung around the area, pretending to be just some guy looking for information. That's when I got a description and a name. Turns out he has a record of drunk driving and violence and has a warrant out for his arrest for aggravated assault and suspected arson. Typical low-life on the run. His name's Kabuto Yakushi. Found him at some club dealing Ecstasy and crack cocaine and hauled him in for questioning. Now, don't tell my superiors, but I also questioned him about your parents' deaths, off the record. By his reactions, I knew he remembered them and his fingerprints match the ones found on scene. He's the one, Naruto. He's your parents' drunk hit-and-run driver," Kakashi finished solemnly.

Naruto swallowed. Kabuto Yakushi. He finally knew the name of the one who had killed his parents without even taking responsibility. He didn't know how he should be feeling right now. Actually, he felt kind of…numb. He wasn't sure if that was a good thing or a bad thing. "So, you got him, then? He's going to prison? Can I talk to him?" he asked after a while.

Kakashi looked down into his cup of iced coffee, his face – or what was visible of it since he always had some kind of mask on the lower half with a bandana pulled down over his left eye – taking on a look of melancholy. "No, we couldn't hold him," he said sadly.

It took a moment for the response to sink in. "WHAT!" Naruto yelled, standing and shoving the table towards Kakashi, dumping the rest of his hot chocolate in the process. He was shaking with fury. Rage he knew. Rage he could deal with better than numbness, but still… "Just _why_ can't you keep him! The evidence points to him! Even if you couldn't pin my parents' deaths on him, he's looking at a drug charge with intent to distribute! Why isn't he going to prison!" He yelled the last part, causing other customers from the café to turn towards him and whisper amongst each other. At Kakashi's quiet urging, he forced himself to take a breath, relax his muscles, and resume sitting.

Kakashi pushed the table that was squishing his innards away from himself and back towards the blonde. He had expected that sort of reaction; it was similar to his own when he found out. "Apparently he's affiliated with some powerful people. Ever heard the name Orochimaru The Snake?"

Naruto nodded. Just about everyone had heard about him. He was the most powerful man in the underground at the moment and was a very cruel person. No one knew exactly what the man did for a living as his main occupation but some of his side jobs included prostitution, drug distribution, extortion, and blackmail. It was known, though, that once you were "in" with Orochimaru, you never got "out." At least not alive. Few people had ever tried to get out of the business with The Snake and those who did ended up severely mutilated beyond recognition, their bodies left to be eaten by scavengers. He was a man who loved to see others suffer, and loved even more to be the one to dole out that suffering. He was known as Orochimaru The Snake for his slimy reputation but also because of his love for the animal and his use of its venom to slowly torture and kill those who went against him. He was never off the news for more than a few days. It seemed like the bastard thrived on the negative publicity it got him; or maybe it was some sick, perverted love for fear and revulsion that drove him to commit more wicked and grisly crimes.

"Well, it seems that Yakushi is pretty tight with Orochimaru. His right-hand man, supposedly," Kakashi continued. "Orochimaru threatened to kill one police officer every eight hours that Yakushi was in custody. Asuma's hands were tied, he had no choice but to let the man go."

Asuma Sarutobi was the Chief of Police and also the son of the mayor, Hiruzen Sarutobi. It just so happened that Naruto was pretty close to both of them since Jiraiya and Tsunade knew them pretty well. Supposedly Hiruzen had a grandson but Naruto had never met him since he lived out of town with his parents. The point was, Naruto knew Asuma would never release Yakushi without good reason; he was a man with high scruples and he wasn't about to be bribed or corrupted like someone else might have been. Which meant there was no hope that a change of staff could change the outcome of the decision.

"Well, damn…" Naruto muttered into his arms, his chin planted firmly on them as they were folded in front of him on the table. Kakashi hated to see the boy look so dejected but he had never lied to the boy and never would. Kakashi had been good friends with both the boy's parents, Minato especially, and he wouldn't have it on his conscience to be dishonest to their son. Besides, the kid had a right to know and he was old enough to handle the information. At least, over time anyway.

"I'm sorry that I couldn't do more, Naruto. We can only hope that when the investigation on Orochimaru is over, we can take Yakushi down with him and all the others," he said, trying to offer some small comfort.

Naruto sighed. "Yeah, but Orochimaru has been ruling the underground for over fifteen years now and he always outsmarts the police. How long is it going to take for him to be caught? Another fifteen years? By then, my parents' case will be all but forgotten. Hell," he said, swearing out of habit though he knew he should probably try to break that, "it's pretty much forgotten about now, even."

Kakashi knew the boy was right but he didn't have the heart to tell him so. The only thing he could do was hope that Orochimaru's perfect crime spree came crashing down around him sooner rather than later.

**…**

The bell chimed as the two companions stepped out of the Sharingan Café.

"Well, thanks for trying, Kakashi," Naruto said, giving the officer a sad but appreciative smile. He really was grateful for all the work that the man put into something that had happened nearly six years ago.

"Of course, Naruto. You'd do it for me if our roles were reversed, just as your father would have." He smiled a little. "He was a good man."

"Yeah," Naruto replied. "So everyone tells me."

Kakashi felt a pang in his chest for the blonde boy who had never really known his parents. He'd been too young to really appreciate what good people they were. "You're a lot like him," he assured. "And not just in looks. You got his determination and loyalty and your mom's stubborn streak. Not that that's a bad thing," he was quick to reassure when he saw the look the blonde shot him.

Naruto gave a genuine smile, the biggest one he'd been able to manage in days. "Thanks, Kakashi," he said as he began walking in the direction of his place. Kakashi had to head in the other direction to get to the police station before his shift started. Naturally, he would be late again. "Oh," Naruto suddenly piped up, and stopped, not looking back at the cop behind him, "and thanks for trying." He knew that the man understood, even when he didn't receive a response in return.

**…  
**  
Naruto wandered around town for a while, not really wanting to go home and face the questioning eyes of his godfather. The damn pervert was somehow always able to know just what kind of mood he was in. Having nothing in mind to do, he just walked aimlessly, wallowing in his own misery, for once ignoring his usual philosophy, as his feet automatically took him to places that were familiar to him.

When he came out of his thoughts, he realized that he was in a part of town that was okay to traverse in daylight but wasn't the safest of places after dark, which was fast approaching. He could just barely see the sun peeking over the tops of buildings as it stretched their shadows to impossible lengths across the pavement.

Deciding that taking the path he had just come from would take too long, he continued in the direction he was heading, ignoring the feeling in his gut that told him to run the other way. After all, he'd been in this part of Konoha many times and had never run into trouble and even though the sky was dimmer, it was still fairly light out.

As he made his way to the nearest alleyway that he knew shortcut through to the east side, his side, he thought he heard a sound and paused in his steps. When it didn't come again, he continued walking and rounded the corner into the alley. Immediately he froze and the blood in his veins turned to ice. Two men stood in the alley, one with a bat and the other with a knife. Normally that wouldn't have bothered him since most people in these parts carried some sort of weapon for show as a precaution, Naruto himself usually being one of them when he knew he was coming here. Today, however, he hadn't expected to wander around and had nothing on him. That wouldn't have been such a horrible thing if it weren't for the other detail his terror-stricken mind took in: the body on the ground in front of the two men.

Naruto knew that he should turn and run before the thugs spotted him but somehow, he just couldn't get his feet to do what his brain told them to do. He just continued to stand in that one spot, feet glued, watching as one of the men, the one with the bat, kicked the man lying on the ground, presumably to assure himself that he was dead. When he was satisfied, he lifted the man into a seated position, propped him against the wall, and hefted the bat in his hands above his head, slamming it down on the victim's skull, completely caving it in. Naruto failed to hold in a horrified gasp at the gruesome violence.

"Who the fuck are you!" the man with the bat yelled, turning towards him, having noticed him for the first time. That's all he needed was a fucking witness. The boss would kill him if he screwed up such an easy hit.

The man's words spurred Naruto into action finally, and his feet decided to listen to him now at the threat of death. For he knew that if these men caught him, he would die for what he witnessed.

The blonde ran, faster than he'd ever run before, back down the main road that he had turned off of, towards Konoha Police Station. If he could get to Kakashi, he would be fine. For the time being, at least.

However, his muscles were fatigued from the hours of walking he had done and they felt like jello as he ran. He didn't have time to stop and rest, though, as the men were right behind him. He could hear their feet pounding on the pavement, a lot less frequently than his own due to their longer stride. _Wait,_ he thought, _I only hear one pair of footsteps!_ Sure enough, when he looked behind him, there was only the man with the bat chasing after him. _Where's the other one!_ he thought in a panic, forcing his legs to speed up, moving even faster than before.

Sheer terror tightened Naruto's stomach muscles and throat and he felt like he was going to start hyperventilating as he took a turn around the block too fast and his feet came out from under him, his body sliding out into the street on his side. He could feel the sting of the cuts on his right side where he skid on the pavement and hear the honking of horns as cars swerved around him but fear laced through him, confusing him. Everything around him was now a threat. The people on the sidewalks, cars driving casually along, men working at the construction site two blocks over. Everything seemed threatening to him. He got up and ran once more.

All the while, he listened to the pounding of the blood rushing through his ears, the feet thudding behind him, the labored breathing of his pursuer. The one thing that terrified him the most was not knowing where the other man was.

Running across the intersection in front of him during a green light wasn't the brightest thing Naruto had ever done. He heard a couple cars crash into each other in their attempts to avoid him and felt a stab of guilt over whether everyone was safe or not. He tried not to think of the possibility of children becoming orphans just as he was as he continued to flee. The man behind him had been slowed by the collision behind him, giving him just enough of a head start that he managed to round the left turn ahead of him at a manageable speed so as to not go skidding out of control again. After what seemed like eternity, he even caught a glimpse of the large-print letters on the Konoha Police Department building before he ducked his head and ran for all that he was worth. He was nearly there. He had outrun the thug following him and he was –

Naruto felt panic seize in his chest as a hand darted out of the shadows in an alleyway to his left, roughly pulling him into the darkness. He tried to scream but the man put a hand over his mouth, muffling the sound. Now Naruto knew where the other guy had gone: he had anticipated Naruto's actions and went to cut him off before he could make it to the station. If he had just run for Jiraiya's place, or even Sasuke's since it was that little bit closer, he would probably have been safe. Instead, he had been foolish and done the predictable thing instead of the sensible one. Though, one would think that running to the police station for help would be the most sensible move to make.

When the man began dragging Naruto backwards, more fully into the alley, the blonde came out of his self-berating thoughts and began screaming into the man's hand, kicking and thrashing for all he was worth. He didn't want to end up like that other guy. He didn't want to die today.

The man cursed when Naruto managed to bite down on his hand and momentarily released the blonde's mouth. Naruto got out a quick and not-quite-loud-enough "help!" before the man clamped down on his mouth once more.

"Damnit, kid, knock it off!" he growled dangerously, waving the knife he had on him in front of Naruto's face. Naruto momentarily froze, staring at the dangerous piece of metal, before he decided that if he was going to die anyway, he was going to do it fighting.

The thug certainly seemed like he was having a hard time holding onto the squirming blonde, which only encouraged him more. That was, until the bat guy came skulking down the alley, glaring fiercely at the boy for getting away from him. "Damn kid is slippery," he commented.

"Well, shit," the guy with the knife retorted venomously, "I hadn't noticed."

Bat-guy grinned. "What'sa matter? Does little Kakuzu need help handling the little small fry 'cause he can't do it on his own?" the man mocked.

'Kakuzu' scowled at the man. "Shut the hell up, Hidan! If you think it's so easy, then you take him!"

"Oh, no, you're the one who said you could catch the kid on your own and that you didn't need my help, remember?"

Kakuzu did his best to glare a hole into his unwanted partner. Unfortunately, it didn't seem to work. "FUCK!" He barked when the kid managed a solid kick to his shin. "I said I could catch the kid and I caught him. Just get the hell over here and help me."

"Yeah, yeah, so touchy…"

Naruto didn't like the glint he saw in Hidan's eye and began to panic. So this was how he was going to die? Was everyone in his family destined to die violent deaths, or something? What kind of gods had the Uzumakis pissed off so much that they would curse them all to a life in hell at a young age?

When Hidan snatched the knife out of Kakuzu's hand and smiled at Naruto, he swore his heart stopped beating in his chest. This was a guy who _enjoyed_ killing. He was loving this…

"Wait!" Kakuzu called suddenly. Naruto opened his eyes slightly, not having realized he had even shut them tight.

"What now!" Hidan exclaimed, obviously frustrated.

"The boss could probably use him."

"The boss doesn't know that we have him," retorted Hidan, "and what he doesn't know won't hurt him." He looked at the blonde and saw his fear. Smiling frighteningly, he brought the knife blade up and licked the blood that was congealed on the metal, seeing the kid's eyes dilate in terror and disgust. God, how he loved playing with his victims before he killed them.

"He doesn't know right now," Kakuzu relented, "but he has sources all over town. What if one lets it slip that we wasted a perfectly good body?" he asked.

Hidan stiffened, having not thought of that concept. Quickly, he looked around, fearing that they might have been overheard and word would get back to the boss that he had nearly done something that might have displeased him. Reassured that there was no one within sight, he turned back to Kakuzu. "All right, all right, but if the boss doesn't want 'im, I get him, got it?" He glared at the other man.

"Suit yourself. I don't want to have to deal with him," he replied.

"Heh," Hidan chuckled, bending down to eye level with Naruto, where he was pinned against Kakuzu's chest, "you're gonna wish we had killed you, kid." That was the last thing Naruto was aware of before Hidan brought the handle of Kakuzu's knife down on his temple and everything went black.

_**You know, when I first started writing fanfictions, I swore that I would never write cliff-hangers. I never understood how writers could be so cruel as to leave something hanging like that. However, when I began writing myself, I found out how much fun it can be…Sorry, guys, it appears that I am a sadist just the same as The Snake. On the plus side, I believe that this is the longest chapter yet. **_

_**So! I decided that there needed to be some more insight to this story from different points of view, rather than just from Naruto, which is why I started out with Sasuke doing all the thinking. I wanted to show how he reasoned things out and why he does and says some things. I'm trying desperately to portray him as an Uchiha, if that makes any sense at all. It is vital that he seem the strong pillar of support but that he can be understanding, and even caring, at times when need be. I hope I'm not forcing him to stray too far from his original character, but it is necessary for me to do.**_

_**As for Naruto, I want to show his determination and inward strength while still showing that he is only a twelve-year-old child, essentially, and that he has fears just as anyone else. After all, Naruto was terrified when he went on his first mission as a ninja in Kishimoto's world, right? On that note, the characters will get older. I plan for Naruto to be seventeen by the story's end and Sasuke and the group to be around twenty. I am not one of those creeps who likes to write about little children kissing and doing otherwise sexual things.**_

_**~Rider~ **_


	6. The Snake Strikes

**Chapter Five**

"Nine-one-one, what's your emergency?"

"_I just saw two men carry off a young boy!"_

"You witnessed a kidnapping, ma'am?"

"_Yes!"_

"Okay, ma'am, where did you see this happen?"

"_East Konoha, downtown. Two blocks from the station."_

"That's a seven mile radius, ma'am. Can you be more specific?"

"_Oh, hush, young'n, it was in that alley, between the Konoha Hardware and the Paint Shop."_

"Okay, ma'am, I'll send some dispatchers over there. Are you in a safe location?"

"_Yes, I'm in my home across the street from there."_

"Good, please stay on the line until someone arrives on scene to ask you questions. Answer the door only if the officers present their badges to you, understand?"

"_Yes, please hurry. I believe the boy is hurt."_

"Officers will be there momentarily, ma'am, rest assured. I'm going to transfer you now to another line with Officer Umino. He will ask you some basic questions until the dispatchers arrive."

Shizune transferred the call before the older woman could say any more, before standing from her secretary's desk where she worked part-time. Her other part-time job was as a nursing assistant at the hospital.

Making her way through the hallway packed with disorganized cubicles, she worked her way to the end where she knocked on the door. The gold plaque on the wooden surface read ASUMA SARUTOBI in big, blocky letters.

"Enter," she heard before turning the knob and stepping inside the room.

"There's been a call about a possible kidnapping, sir," Shizune reported.

Asuma looked up from the files on his desk that he had been examining thoroughly. "Where?"

"The alleyway two blocks from here where all the junkies usually hang out," she answered.

"Have there been any other reports on the matter? Any new missing person reports?" he asked routinely.

"Not as of yet, sir, but the woman sounded sufficiently upset."

"It wasn't Old Woman Chiyo, was it?" he asked suspiciously.

Shizune hesitated. "Actually…I think it may have been. It certainly sounded like her," she said haltingly. 'Granny Chiyo' as she was called, was known for her delusions that she often babbled about. She usually made a call to the KPD at least once a month. The woman had been surprisingly complacent lately. This was her first call in at least six months. At the look Asuma gave her, she continued hurriedly, "She sounded lucid, sir. I think we should take this call seriously. There weren't any flying purple monkeys this time."

Asuma allowed a small smile to appear. The old woman always had something entertaining to tell them. Last time it was purple flying monkeys with orange polka dots stealing people's smiles. At least this claim sounded legitimate enough that he didn't have to call the Konoha Mental Health Facility in to make sure she wasn't a danger to herself. "All right, send Kakashi in. Is Iruka on the phone with Chiyo now?"

"Yes, sir," she confirmed.

"All right, tell him to actually document this claim for once," he ordered.

"Right away, sir."

Kakashi walked into Asuma's office nearly ten minutes later – Asuma swore the man was out to annoy him any chance he got; the walk to his office took _maybe_ two minutes, if there were boxes full of files and documentations in the way – and held his hand up in greeting, his one visible eye closed in what Asuma assumed was a smiling gesture. "Yo," he greeted his superior.

"I'm not even going to ask why, or _how_, you are late Kakashi…" he muttered, irritated. "I'm sending you out as a dispatch to the old junkie alley. You'll have to talk to old Chiyo. Says she witnessed a kidnapping."

"All right, will do. We sure it's legit this time, though?"

"Sounds believable at the least so we're going to take it as a serious investigation," Asuma replied.

Kakashi nodded. "I'll head out now, then. Better be there as quick as possible if it's a real crime," the silver-haired officer said before turning and opening the door.

"Oh, Kakashi," Asuma stopped him. Kakashi looked back at the Chief of Police, waiting for the man to speak. "Don't be late. It's a forty-five second drive."

Kakashi just smiled, waved, and walked out.

**…**

"About time you showed up, Kakashi!"

Kakashi nearly groaned. Of all the people that Asuma could have assigned to help him, it had to be _this guy_? The man was getting revenge for Kakashi being late to his office. He _knew_ he shouldn't have stopped to look at the puppy being walked past the station… "Gai," he greeted with a nod, "I decided to walk instead of drive. It's a nice day, don't you think?"

"Yes!" the man with the black bowl-shaped hair and bushy eyebrows exclaimed with a fist pump. "I knew I was rubbing off on you, Kakashi. You finally decided to allow the world's youthfulness to sink in, didn't you!"

Kakashi couldn't stop the groan from escaping this time and slapped a palm to his face. _I swear, if I have to hear another speech about youth, I'll strangle him. 'Murder-is-wrong' be damned!_

"What's the matter, Kakashi? You don't sound too good. Maybe you need some youthful – !"

"Let's just get this over with, Gai," Kakashi cut him off before he could go off on a tirade.

Gai snapped his mouth shut, seeming to remember what they were there for.

"KPD, open up!" Kakashi called as he knocked on the door of the small, run-down apartment. It's too bad the old woman's son had died from cancer and her grandson was always roaming the world in search of new adventures. The woman could really use some company and someplace else to stay other than this side of town.

The door creaked open slightly before the chain lock on the inside stopped it and an eyeball with layers of bags and wrinkles underneath peeked out. "Badges?" she asked.

"Chiyo, you know us," Kakashi replied but dug out his badge nonetheless and showed it to the old woman. Gai did the same from two steps behind the silver-haired officer.

Satisfied, Chiyo opened the door and ushered them inside, poking her head out as they went past her, peering around as if expecting someone to be watching before closing the door behind them. She then passed up the two officers and lead the way into the tiny living area to the left that joined with the kitchen. "Have a seat, have a seat," she mumbled, as she made her way to the kitchen stove, filling a kettle of water and placing it over the open flame. "Tea, or coffee?"

"Coffee," Kakashi answered automatically.

"Tea!" Gai called enthusiastically. "You should really try to be more like me, Kakashi. Tea is much healthier than coffee. Maybe you'll even become as strong and healthy as me one of these days if you switch over!"

Kakashi chose to ignore the overly energetic man, instead watching Chiyo work to gather cups and spoons for the three of them. The woman certainly seemed to be in her right mind today so Kakashi dug out the small notebook and pen from his pocket in anticipation of the questioning.

Ten minutes later and the three of them were seated in Chiyo's living room, Kakashi and Gai on the sofa and Chiyo on the chair across from them and the tiny coffee table, each with a steaming mug in their hands. Chiyo always had good coffee, even if it was hot and it didn't have all of the usual stuff that Kakashi put in it. "Well then," the officer began, "can you describe to me what you saw, Granny Chiyo?" he asked.

"Of course," the woman replied. "I saw a kidnapping!"

"Yes," Kakashi said slowly, "but can you tell me exactly what happened?"

"I saw a man grab a young boy and carry him into the alley and another go in after. After a while, the men came out carrying the boy."

Kakashi and Gai looked at each other. It was one of the woman's more sane claims and it certainly sounded plausible. "Can you describe the men?" he coaxed.

"Let's see…One was hiding in the alley before I noticed the boy nearly running by, so I didn't really see him very well. I remember that he had a hood on, though, and a mask covering the lower part of his face."

"How about the second man?" Gai piped up.

Chiyo walked to her window that viewed the alley across the street, gazing out as if it would reproduce the scene before her. "He had silver hair, and a nice smile," she said. "Seemed like a nice enough gentleman at first glance but I got a bad feeling about him."

"And the boy?" Kakashi prodded.

"He was…young, I think. No older than fifteen but not younger than ten. His hair was golden and wild," she continued in a soft voice, "and he must have been tan, at least a little bit so, because his skin didn't glow like that of the other two guys."

Kakashi froze and his heartbeat quickened. He only knew of one person in this town with blonde hair and tanned skin that distinctive. "How long ago did this happen?" he asked urgently.

"I'd say about a half hour. You guys sure took your time getting here," she replied, almost accusingly.

Kakashi relaxed. He had left Naruto at the front of the café hours ago; he would be home safe and sound by now. But just in case… "You take over from here, Gai, I have a few phone calls to make."

Kakashi showed himself out of Chiyo's apartment and went to stand outside on the sidewalk before it, pulling out his cell and pressing the speed dial number three. It rang six times before going to voicemail.

"_Hey, you've reached the greatest guy in the world, Naruto Uzumaki! Guess I can't answer my phone right now so leave a message! Beeeeeep."_

Kakashi's heart began to pump double time as he ended the call and dialed in the number for Jiraiya. Luckily, the man picked up. "Yeah, 'lo?" the man called into the phone.

"Jiraiya, it's Kakashi," the officer began swiftly, "is Naruto there?"

"Uh, no, I haven't seen the kid since this morning. Said he was gonna be hanging out with Sasuke." The older man paused before adding, "Why, he do something wrong?"

"No, no," Kakashi assured quickly, "but I'd like to talk to you and Sasuke. Can you both be at the station in twenty?"

"Sure, I suppose I could do that. What's this about, Kakashi?"

"Nothing, I hope," he replied sincerely.

**...**

It didn't quite take Jiraiya, with Sasuke in tow, twenty minutes to get to the KPD yet when he pulled up to the station, Kakashi was outside trying to pace a trench into the sidewalk.

"About time you got here," he scolded impatiently.

Jiraiya paused. "You said be here in twenty minutes, I'm here in fifteen. What's really going on? You're a nervous wreck."

Kakashi stopped his pacing and sighed, scrubbing a hand across what was visible of his face. "Just…come inside. Asuma said we could borrow the conference room."

Jiraiya and Sasuke shared a look but didn't question anything as they followed the officer inside. Once they were in the conference room, Kakashi closed the door so they wouldn't be overheard and sat heavily into a rolling chair at the large table in the center of the room, gesturing for the other two to do the same.

"Why did I have to come if the idiot is the one who did something wrong," Sasuke scowled. If Naruto got him mixed up in one of his stupid pranks like the one from last year where he pied the mayor in the face, he'd kill him. His parents still hadn't forgiven him for that, even though he had repeatedly told them that he wasn't the one to do it and that _he wasn't even there._ But since Naruto had insisted that Sasuke was in on it and it was known that the two were usually inseparable, his parents had believed the blonde instead of him.

Kakashi ignored the question. "When is the last time you saw Naruto, Sasuke?"

Sasuke paused, wondering what this was about. "Yesterday after we walked home from Ichiraku's," he answered.

"What?" Jiraiya's head jerked towards the raven-haired boy. "He said he was going to be with you today," the man accused.

"No," Sasuke said slowly, "we didn't have any plans for today."

"The brat lied to me!? Where the hell is he!? What'd he do!? I'll rip the little shit a new one!" he yelled.

Kakashi's heart sank as he listened to the other two talk. So he hadn't been seen since Kakashi left him at the café. He sighed. "I can explain," he said quietly. Two sets of eyes turned to him, waiting for him to speak. "I met with Naruto today in secret. I could lose my job if Asuma found out about it." He looked up at the other two waiting expectantly. "I've been investigating his parents' case and found out who the drunk driver was."

Jiraiya's eyes widened. He was stunned to say the least. He thought that that case was a lost cause. "Who was it?" he asked carefully. Had Naruto gone after the person?

Kakashi shook his head. "That's not important. Naruto is missing," he said.

Jiraiya just stared at him blankly. "So…where did he go?" he asked stupidly.

"The point of being missing," Sasuke drawled sarcastically, "is that no one knows where you are."

Jiraiya blinked. Oh, yeah. "Okay, how do you know he's missing and not just pulling pranks somewhere like usual?"

"I thought about that," Kakashi began, "but no pranks have been reported and the last time I saw Naruto was seven hours ago, when we parted at the Sharingan Café."

"I still don't understand why you think he's missing, Kakashi."

Kakashi looked at Naruto's guardian seriously. "I just followed up on a report that a young boy with blonde hair and tan skin was dragged into an alley by two men, knocked unconscious, and carried off." Well there it was; he'd dropped the bomb.

"WHAT!" Jiraiya yelled. "Naruto was kidnapped!? Why the hell aren't you out there finding him!?"

Sasuke looked as if he had swallowed something particularly nasty and was trying to keep it down.

Kakashi removed his hands from his ears, glancing at his palms to make sure his eardrums weren't bleeding. "I'm not sure if it really was Naruto; it was just a hunch. I don't see why Naruto would still be in this area of town and the source that we heard this from isn't exactly the most reliable. She's known for paranoid delusions in her old age." Seeing the look of relief passing over the two faces before him, Kakashi reluctantly added, "That doesn't mean that she wasn't telling the truth, though. Gai stayed and checked out the scene of the crime and did find fresh blood and scuff marks."

Jiraiya's heart fell. His godson had been taken? Possibly killed? For what? What could the kid have possibly gotten himself into? "What do we do?" he choked out. He couldn't lose the kid.

"We're looking into things right now but the place is so grimy that we can't get any fingerprints or DNA samples that don't come back as some mangy animal or near-dead drug addict. The only thing we can do is wait and hope for another tip, I guess," Kakashi finished dejectedly. It killed him to not be able to do anything. "Go on home, Jiraiya, and wait to see if he gets back. Sasuke, call all yours and Naruto's friends and see if he's been with any of them today. Let me know if you hear anything."

Sasuke nodded but the poor kid looked numb.

Kakashi sighed for what felt like the millionth time that day. "Go on home, guys."

**…**

A cold shock of water hit him in the face and he awoke with a gasp. His eyes shot open before quickly closing again from pain as a bright light hit him full in the face. He groaned and tried to reach up to touch his aching head but he couldn't move his arms. Cautiously peeking his eyes open, allowing them to slowly adjust to what he now knew was a lamp light pointed in his direction, he glanced down at his arms. They were buckled to the chair that he was propped up in and, testing his feet, he found that they were also restraining him in a similar fashion. A sharp pain shot through his temple and he groaned again at the sensation.

"Well, looks like he's awake," he heard someone drawl.

"Way to state the obvious, Hidan."

At the sounds of the bickering, Naruto remembered the two men that he could hear just out of eyesight in the shadows. He'd been abducted. But…why wasn't he dead? "Where am I?" he croaked.

One of the men laughed. "He wants to know where he is! Like we'd answer a stupid question like that, eh, Kakuzu?"

Finally, the men stepped into the light and Naruto shivered. Now that he could see the two men clearly, he could see that they were even more frightening than he remembered. "What do you want from me?" he asked quietly, determined not to freak out and cry. He wouldn't give the sicko called Hidan the satisfaction.

"Well, _I_ don't want anything from you," Hidan claimed gleefully, "except to watch you writhe in agony before I kill you." The man cackled.

"Shut up, Hidan. There's no need for pointless chatter," Kakuzu retorted.

Hidan almost seemed to pout. "Yeah, yeah. But remember, if the boss doesn't want him, _I_ get him, not you!"

Kakuzu nearly rolled his eyes. "Like I want him."

"Sure," Hidan drawled, "you say that _now_, but how about when you hear the sweet sounds he makes as a knife slides through his flesh?" He licked his lips.

Naruto repressed a shudder and swallowed past the lump in his throat. What the hell was he going to do? These men were going to kill him!

Kakuzu didn't bother with a retort. Anything he said, Hidan would have a swift rebuttal for.

Just then, a door to Naruto's left that he didn't know was there swung open, allowing light to drift in from another area. "So, boys, what have you brought me today?" a sickly sweet voice asked.

Naruto stared hard at the man standing in the doorway. The man was a deathly pale, almost gray, color with golden slitted eyes. Naruto didn't know that eyes could look like that. His hair was black and long, flowing past his shoulders. He was thin, too thin, yet he emitted an aura that suggested he was more dangerous than he looked at first glance. And the smile that he gave upon seeing Naruto was probably the creepiest thing about him. It was wide and predatory, and when he licked his lips, his tongue was overly long. It gave Naruto the creeps.

"Well, well, who is this?" he asked, stalking towards the blonde. He gestured towards Hidan, who flipped a light switch, and the unknown man turned the lamp off. "There, that's better, isn't it?"

Naruto kept silent.

Suddenly, the man laughed. "I see a fiery determination in your eyes, boy. I think I like you!" Naruto just knew that the man liking him was a bad thing. Maybe he _should_ have simpered like some little baby?

"You want him, boss?" Hidan piped up. "'Cause if you don't…" he trailed off, knowing his boss understood what he was implying.

"Yes, I think I do," he drawled, to Hidan's disappointment. He didn't dare go against the man, though. The 'boss' circled Naruto like some item up for sale, "tsk"-ing all the while and mumbling to himself. Finally, he stopped in front of Naruto and grabbed hold of his chin, turning his head this way and that. Naruto resisted the urge to flinch away from the man's touch. "I hope you don't have a concussion from that blow to the head. It'd be a shame to lose such a good specimen to a needless head injury." He shot a scathing glare at Hidan and Kakuzu, who both shrank back slightly. "How old are you, boy?"

Naruto clenched his jaw and refused to speak.

The stranger gripped his jaw harder, to the point that Naruto thought it would crack under the pressure. "I said: How old are you, _boy_?"

"T-twelve," Naruto said through the pain.

"Good," the stranger purred, "So you can be obedient when necessary." He paused, doing another once-over of the boy. "You seem healthy enough. A little too much flab and a little under-muscled, but that can be remedied easily. Skin is perfect and healthy, nice and tan. You don't burn, then?" At Naruto's slight shake of the head, the man gave a nod. "Good, not a likely candidate for cancer, then. You're short for your age, but a growth spurt could change that. Not that height matters, as long as you're appropriately built. You should turn out nice and lean. And that determination in your eyes…perfect for what I have in mind for you. You'll need that strong will if you're to pass the tests I issue to you. Anyway," he clapped his hands together, turning to address the two thugs behind him, "I like him; he'll be added into the Jinchuuriki program as long as the evaluations are excellent and he passes all of the qualifications. I want blood work done first to be sure that he is as healthy as he seems. Do an IQ and strategy test, check out his reasoning and adaptation abilities." When the two men made no move to do as he said, he barked a quick, "NOW!" and watched them scramble before turning back to Naruto and smiling.

Naruto's head spun. What was going on? Blood work? IQ tests? What was he, a lab rat? And who was this creepy guy?

"So, child," said creepy guy drawled, "what is your name?"

Naruto glared before answering, "Naruto."

The man smiled. "Nice to meet you, Naruto, my name is Orochimaru. It's going to be a pleasure having you here."

**Ah, another short chapter. Sorry about that, guys, but college classes are going to be starting soon so I'm trying to get my schedule figured out for both school, work, caring for the horses, **_**and**_** finding time to write. I'll try to keep up with this story as much as possible but chapters will either be shorter or fewer and farther between. I apologize in advance. **

**~Rider~**


	7. Of Tears and Devastation

**Chapter Six**

It had been nearly a week since Naruto had disappeared and Sasuke thought he was going to go crazy if the blonde wasn't found soon. It drove him nuts knowing that there was nothing he could do and lately he had been behaving in a very un-Uchiha-like manner; he continually snapped at people for things that he would usually tune out and he would skulk around more sullenly than usual – he was _not_ brooding; Uchihas don't brood. Kakashi had told him to sit tight and leave things to the authorities but there were two things wrong with that: 1) Uchihas didn't sit and wait around for results, they took action; and 2) how did they expect him to put his faith in a police force that had taken nearly three years to track down a hit-and-run culprit? Scratch that, the KPD didn't, Kakashi did, and Sasuke trusted that man more than any of the others, but still…it took _three years._ Did his blonde friend have that long?

Sasuke sighed and scowled at empty space. Since the KPD was nearly useless, he had taken matters into his own hands and had searched practically all of Konoha, looking for Naruto. Sakura and Kiba had put up 'LOST – REWARD' signs all over town like he was some pet, but at least they were doing something. Hinata was a mess and even Neji admitted to missing the boy's presence – shocker. Ino pretended she didn't care but never failed to help out with anything done in an attempt to find Naruto. Shikamaru was…well, he was Shikamaru, though he had gotten noticeably less lazy and even volunteered to help out with things that he would normally have called 'troublesome' and skipped out on.

Then there were Tsunade and Jiraiya…The two of them had taken things hard. Jiraiya had lost weight while Tsunade dove head-first into her work at the hospital, something she would usually never have done, claiming it was boring and too much work. The woman probably hadn't slept in days.

Even the mayor was affected by Naruto's disappearance. Despite usually being the favorite candidate for the blonde's pranks, he used his connections and made calls to Suna and Otogakure and many other places, trying to find out if Naruto had shown up there somehow, but his efforts were in vein. It was as if Sasuke's friend had dropped off the face of the earth entirely.

To the Konoha Police Department, that pointed to just one outcome: the blonde had been killed and dumped somewhere. They had divers searching the channels and lakes around the city but none of them had found a body yet. Sasuke was hoping they never did. If Naruto really were dead, Sasuke hoped to whatever god may be out there that they didn't find the boy's body. There was some pretty nasty shit being done to people lately and Sasuke didn't want Naruto to be humiliated in front of the people he loved when his body was found. He supposed he'd rather they never officially declare the blonde dead than have his body mutilated or bloated from decay and water absorption to the point that he was beyond recognition.

Sasuke immediately stopped that train of thought. Now he was thinking like the fucking police! Giving up when the blonde hadn't even been missing for seven days! What the hell was wrong with him!?

Frustrated with himself, he left his mansion, flying down the drive and out onto the street. He took off at a jog, taking comfort in the familiar activity. Running always helped him clear his head; it forced him to focus on the burn of his muscles rather than his tortuous thoughts.

After he'd run about five miles, give or take, he slowed to a stop, breathing heavily. He noticed for the first time that the air was cool and he could see his breath as he exhaled. Glancing at the expensive watch on his wrist, he cursed. It was after ten at night. His parents were going to kill him. He turned around and began heading in the direction from which he came.

"…blonde bastard…pain in the ass…loud as hell…"

Sasuke froze in his tracks, straining his ears to catch more snippets of conversation coming from a male voice being carried from an old, run-down abandoned house across the way from him. Without realizing it, his feet had carried him to the part of town where Naruto had last been seen. The area was familiar to him now and he had come here subconsciously; he'd combed practically every square inch of these parts.

"…fighter…annoying as hell…what he sees in him…"

That was a second voice that spoke. Sasuke decided: they had to be having a conversation about Naruto. Sasuke couldn't think about what he would do if they weren't.

Quickly, he darted to the side of the house and crouched into the shadows, keeping himself out of sight. Pulling out his cell phone, he covered the screen with his hand to try and hide the glow and sent a swift text to Kakashi: _Lead on Naru. Two guys. Hiding. Come quickly._ He typed in the address and tucked his phone away, knowing that Kakashi wouldn't be stupid enough to text him back.

Ten long minutes later, he heard the sounds of sirens and saw the flashing red and blue lights from down the street. The sounds of the squad cars seemed to set the house's occupants into motion. The front door flung open and four men came darting out. Really, they were more like boys than men; they couldn't be much older than Sasuke.

Fearing that his only lead to Naruto would get away, Sasuke lunged at the nearest person: a man just slightly taller than Sasuke, probably around twenty. He had gray hair, green eyes, and a couple of red dots tattooed horizontally across his forehead. That was all Sasuke got to see before he was on top of the guy. He plowed him to the ground and wrestled with him, feeling a sense of relief when his 'buddies' glanced back at the two struggling on the cold ground and just continued running. Guess it was every man for himself.

A punch landed square on Sasuke's jaw and he grunted. Damn, that hurt. He retaliated by pressing his knee into the guy's gut. The breath whooshed out of the green-eyed guy's chest. "Little shit!" he exclaimed before shoving Sasuke off of him and reversing their positions.

The older male drew his fist back for another punch to Sasuke's face but Sasuke had had enough of that. He pulled the guy down to him and smacked his forehead right on the other guy's skull, momentarily stunning them both. Now Sasuke understood why people didn't like to use that move very often…

Sasuke recovered first and brought one foot up and managed to get it underneath the guy on top of him and plant it on his stomach. Sasuke grabbed his shoulders and lifted up with his foot, sending the guy flying over the raven's head backwards. Before the other guy could figure out that he was free of Sasuke's grip, he rolled over and jumped to his feet before jumping onto the guy's back, pinning his face into the dirt, planting his knees into the older male's back, and grasping his wrists near his head. "Stay still," Sasuke growled menacingly but when the dotted-forehead freak heard the screech of tires and shuffling of feet, signaling the arrival of the dispatched police, he renewed his struggling vigorously.

To Sasuke's dismay, his only link to Naruto managed to buck him off and scramble to his feet, before running nearly before he was upright. Sasuke, still unsure what happened, felt his whole body go cold in dread. How could he have lost the one person who could lead him to his blonde best friend?

Just as he began to lose hope, he watched, almost detached, as Kakashi seemed to come out of nowhere and tackle his escaped suspect to the ground. The man's usual annoying partner, Gai, swiftly ran over and cuffed the male.

Panting from holding the new-found suspect, Kakashi glanced at Sasuke. "Nice work," he said genuinely.

Sasuke merely swallowed and gave a small nod in acceptance of the praise, his mind still not comprehending that they _hadn't_ lost the gray-haired boy.

**...**

Naruto looked away as _yet another_ needle was forced into the crook of his arm. He was really getting tired of this annoying routine. Since he had arrived at 'The Snake's Den,' as he liked to call it, it had been nothing but blood tests, physical tests, physical training, mental exercises, weapons introductions, combat training, and other things that he really didn't need.

Naruto sighed as the needle was removed from his vein. He was never a fan of needles but lately he had been starting to get used to it with all the sticking and prodding done by Orochimaru's doctors. He still couldn't figure out – and really didn't want to know – just why the bastard had so many of the medical personnel. The place was crawling with them. Naruto himself had had probably four different ones since he had been there and he could count nine others in the lab at the moment that he didn't recognize. Creepy, really.

"We are done with the blood samples, you may go."

Naruto glared at the dismissive doctor but didn't say anything. He had learned the day he got there that it was _not_ a good idea to defy any of Orochimaru's employees. The repercussions were not pleasant.

Ripping off the tourniquet that the doctor had left on his arm and throwing it on the floor in a small show of defiance, he jumped down off the chair he was perched on and headed out the door, making sure to slam it on his way out. Next, he knew, was his combat training and conditioning which he found early on that he probably wouldn't have disliked had it not been demanded by Orochimaru. Naruto made a mental note that if – _when _– he got out of this place, he would continue the training with someone that _wasn't_ a criminal. It would certainly help with future problems such as the one he found himself in at the moment. As it was, though, he did not like his current teacher at all; the man's name was Mizuki. At first, Mizuki hadn't seemed all that bad. He smiled and joked with Naruto and Naruto had kind of liked the guy.

And then the man found out that Naruto was in the Jinchuuriki program – which Naruto still had _no_ idea what that was about; Orochimaru kept saying that he would find out if he made it that far. Creepy – and had completely turned cold towards him, taking every opportunity to beat the living hell out of the poor blonde. Naruto couldn't tell if it was because he was jealous or disgusted, which kind of bothered the blonde. Not that Naruto was all that upset about it since he wanted to hurry up and learn everything and get on with whatever Orochimaru had planned for him. The faster he did that, the faster he got out of here. If Orochimaru wanted to make Naruto stronger, faster, smarter, then all the power to him; it just gave Naruto more of an opportunity to fight his way out of the Snake's Den.

"Finally decide to show up, you cowardly brat?"

Naruto, brought out of his thoughts, scowled. "I'm not a coward, you dick. Those damn doctors took longer than they usually do."

Mizuki's face split into a feral grin. "Making up excuses now to get out of your training?"

Naruto's eyes narrowed. "No," he bit out. Before the other could say anything, he threw a punch and their session began.

**...**

Naruto returned, exhausted, to the room that Orochimaru assigned to him. It was small but had a bed and bathroom, which was all Naruto really needed to get by. It wasn't like home, however, and he would never forgive Orochimaru or his damn goons for taking him away.

He flopped onto the bed on his back and stared up at the ceiling, arms and legs spread. He was so tired and sore from his training with Mizuki. The man never even gave him a chance to land a hit. He was getting better, though, and he had only been here for a short while so he was actually improving with leaps and bounds.

But that wasn't enough.

If wanting to leave this place to get away from Orochimaru and his creepy lackeys weren't enough of a reason, he had now found another. Perhaps two. Closing his eyes, he let his thoughts wander back to what he had overheard earlier.

_Dragging his feet and holding his bruised ribs, Naruto forced himself to wander down yet another hallway he had never been to. He had made it his personal mission to explore and investigate every inch of the vast building in which Orochimaru holed himself up in. It was definitely going to be some feat, since there were probably hundreds of rooms like the one Naruto himself stayed in that held Orochimaru's trainees/subordinates. Apparently, most rooms held four to five beds; only those with 'special circumstances' get their own rooms and Naruto was supposed to consider himself lucky. He snorted. Since he was to be entered into this 'Jinchuuriki' program, he was supposedly _special_. He didn't feel all that special._

_Forcing himself not to think of his current state of ignorance at his own future as well as his bruises, he continued down the hallway, cracking doors open as silently as he could, peeking in, and re-closing them before moving on. He didn't know how many levels there were to this building or how many hidden rooms there may be but he suspected there were a lot. Naruto knew that the bottom five floors were all rooms for the lesser members of Orochimaru's gang. That meant that he didn't have to search those floors for a way out since he discovered they were underground, anyway. No windows for escape. The top two floors were restricted to only Orochimaru and his higher ranked members. Apparently, if he gets into the Jinchuuriki program successfully and fulfills all of the obligations required of it, he, too, would be allowed on those upper levels. He had decided that that was probably his only method of escape._

_Reaching for another door handle, he cracked it open. Not seeing anything, he began pulling the door closed when the sound of voices reached him. He froze, hoping no one was facing the door and saw it open. When no one approached the door or called out to him, he released the breath he hadn't known he'd been holding and strained his ears for any sort of sounds._

_After a few seconds, he heard the talking again. This time, he could tell, it didn't come from the room. Pushing the door open and stepping inside, he closed the door behind him quietly and tiptoed around the room, concentrating. Finally, he pinpointed just where the sounds were coming from: the vent in the wall._

_Sidling up to it, he pressed his ear close, confirming that the voices were indeed floating into the room from the vent. Naruto didn't know if it came from the upper levels, or the lower, however, but any information is important._

_"How is the newest addition coming?" Definitely Orochimaru's voice. Naruto couldn't mistake that slimy, creepy voice for anyone else._

_"He seems to be coming along fine," another voice replied. This voice, Naruto didn't recognize._

_"Fine isn't good enough!"_

_"I'm sorry, sir. It will take a little longer than the other subjects to get him acclimated since he didn't volunteer. He hasn't been here very long and he isn't exactly eager to be cooperative."_

_"Well, make him cooperative, Kabuto," Orochimaru drawled. Something in Naruto's mind clicked. Kabuto! The man who had killed his parents in the drunk hit-and-run. Naruto felt rage burn through his veins._

_"What do you propose?" Kabuto asked. "He has no reason to want to do all that we tell him to, and if he knew what it meant to become a Jinchuuriki –"_

"_Yes, yes," Orochimaru retorted. In his mind's eye, Naruto could see the man waving his hand in dismissal. "It seems we will have to use more…persuasive actions." Naruto shivered at the sentence. He could hear the cruel smile in the Snake's voice._

"_Yes, Orochimaru. I have just the thing in mind."_

Naruto shook his head as if to physically dispel the thoughts. He was definitely not going to like this 'thing' that Kabuto had mentioned. Naruto now had more to worry about than he ever had before. Being kidnapped and forced to take lessons for the mind and body wasn't all that bad. The tests weren't great but they weren't too invasive and didn't affect him badly. But now he had to deal with the fact that he was living in the same building with Kabuto and Kabuto had something planned for him that he _definitely_ wasn't going to be okay with. Not to mention that, apparently, the Jinchuuriki program isn't such a grand 'honor' as Orochimaru had tried to convince him of. Not that Naruto had believed a word the criminal had said, but he _was_ hoping that it wasn't all that bad.

Guess even that was too much for the blonde to ask for. His life just kept getting better and better.

**...**

"I've told you a thousand times already, when are you going to stop asking?"

"When you can get your story straight," Officer Hatake replied. "Now, let's start again from the beginning. State your name and age for the record."

"Kimimaro Kaguya, twenty-two," the silver-haired male spat. This cop was getting on his nerves. He'd been interrogating Kimimaro for over four hours now, asking the same questions over and over. It was starting to get old.

"At least you always get that one right," Kakashi mused, almost to himself. "Let's try a harder question," the man said, picking up a familiar picture and sliding it across the table to Kimimaro. "Have you ever seen this boy?"

Kimimaro shrugged. "He looks like a foreigner. Course I've seen him around a time or two. Hard to miss, isn't he? 'Specially with that goofy grin."

Hatake sighed in exasperation. "As you said before, I've already asked these questions. Answer the questions the same as you answered previously," Hatake reminded. "Tell me about seeing him after his abduction."

Kimimaro glared. Keeping his story straight was hard as hell when the man kept forcing him to repeat it. He'd told the cop that he had seen this kid, 'Naruto,' at one of Orochimaru's hide-outs after he had first been captured. It was true of course, but for fear of his life, he had neglected to mention that it was Orochimaru's, he'd merely said that it was at a gang hangout and had kept to saying 'Boss,' rather than Orochimaru. Kimimaro had found that sticking with as many truths as possible without giving away any important information was the best way to convince people he was telling _all _of the truth. Unfortunately, apparently the man knew that the hideout belonged to Orochimaru somehow – Kimimaro suspected a mole and planned to report it to his boss immediately – and so he had had to change his story a little bit and insist that _No, he was not a member of Orochimaru's gang_ and _Yes, he had risked life and limb to break into one of Orochimaru's drug factories to steal some of the merchandise. _Now, however, since he had not known about the police's knowledge of the place, he had had to change his story, making it seem less believable. Which was why he was being drilled now.

"Kimimaro." Kimimaro was brought back from his thoughts at the sound of Hatake's voice. "Please answer the question."

Kimimaro took a moment to piece together his new story. "After I broke into The Snake's drug factory to steal some cocaine," he muttered, knowing he was going to jail for this new story but willing to take that over losing his life for ratting on Orochimaru, "I heard some people talking. I panicked and hid behind some boxes. Two guys came in and tied the kid to a chair. When they woke him up, he was loud and annoying as hell. Guess he pissed the guys off so they slit the kid's throat. Don't know what they did with 'im after that."

"So you're saying that these guys took Naruto to Orochimaru's hideout and killed him?"

Kimimaro hesitated, thinking about this for a moment and trying to determine if that statement could in any way be incriminating to his boss. "That's right," he said after a moment.

Hatake smirked and Kimimaro had a momentary feeling of dread. "So Orochimaru, for some reason, had Naruto Uzumaki killed in his own drug factory?"

"No!" Kimimaro burst out before he could stop himself. "He –" his voice cracked and he cleared his throat, thinking frantically. "It was Orochimaru's hideout," he confirmed, "but the two men weren't involved with him."

"I see," Hatake replied thoughtfully. "And how do you know this?"

Kimimaro swallowed. This was going to be a tough one. Either he could tell the truth – the partial truth, at least – and say that they were involved in the same gang, but _not_ with Orochimaru and risk the repercussions with Kakuzu and Hidan, or he could tell an outright lie. One that he couldn't come up with, it seemed. "We're all a part of a new street gang," he said, thinking of details along the way.

Hatake nodded, as if he knew Kimimaro would say something like that. Which, now that Kimimaro thought about it, he probably _had _known. It was probably a common excuse among gang members when they needed to think of an excuse for a slipup. "What are these guys' names?" Hatake asked.

"Don't know," Kimimaro retorted. "I just recently joined. Don't know anyone yet."

"So what is this new gang called?" Hatake asked, his eyes narrowed.

Kimimaro froze. "Called…?"

"Yes," Hatake said smugly. "What is the name of this new gang?"

"Uh…" Kimimaro's mind raced. "That's…I can't tell you," he replied.

"And why is that…?"

Kimimaro finally thought of an excuse. "Because that would be betraying my gang. I'd like to keep my tongue and fingers, thanks," he shot back confidently.

"But if this gang is so new," Hatake explained, "then none of its members would be in the system so giving me the name won't do any harm."

Kimimaro balked. This was true. However, was it also true that a person in a new gang would give out that information so freely? He wouldn't know since the only gang he had ever been in was that of Orochimaru's, which had been formed decades ago. It was far from new. Taking a risk, he replied: "Shikotsumyaku."

"Shikotsumyaku?" Kakashi questioned. Definitely not a name he had heard, judging by his reaction. Good. He had hoped that he hadn't heard of any gangs outside of the Konohagakure Prefecture. "Pretty interesting name for something you just randomly came up with."

Kimimaro smirked, finally feeling back in control. "I didn't just come up with it; it's a gang in Otogakure." Realizing his mistake, he quickly added: "They're starting to extend their reach. Moving into other territories, you know? They've been recruiting in the surrounding areas of Oto." Kimimaro decided he deserved a pat on the back later for that lie.

Apparently Hatake didn't like it too much. With a glare, he slid his chair back, the metal legs screeching on the floor, and left the interrogation room. Kimimaro let out a sigh of relief; he was in the clear. At least, for now.

**...**

"The bastard's lying!" Sasuke burst out angrily, his hands balled into fists. He'd watched the whole interrogation from the room on the other side of the two-way glass. "You _know_ he's lying, Kakashi!"

Kakashi sighed, shaking his head. "Just because we know he's lying doesn't mean we can do anything about it. We can't force him to say what we want him to say, Sasuke."

"Can't you do something!? Hook him up to a lie detector!" Sasuke knew he wasn't acting in the dignified manner that the Uchihas pride themselves on but right now, he didn't care. This bastard said that his best friend was killed! Murdered! His throat was slit and his body dumped! How could he remain calm and under control? _How was Kakashi doing it? _The man acted like he didn't care, for god's sake!

"Lie detectors don't always work, Sasuke," Kakashi reminded gently. Sasuke hated it. He _hated_ how everyone treated him like a child. He was _fifteen_! "Besides, we already hooked him up to one earlier. I can show you the results if you'd like," he offered.

"Hn," Sasuke replied. Kakashi took that as a 'yes.'

"Gai," Kakashi said, addressing one of the other two men in the room besides Jiraiya, "grab me the folder, would you?"

"Are you sure, Kakashi?" Gai asked, skeptically. He didn't think it was a good idea divulging information before Kimimaro went to court. At Kakashi's solemn nod, he turned to the cabinet that he had been leaning on and opened the second drawer. Sifting through some other files, he finally found the one he had been seeking and pulled it out. "Here," he said, handing it to Kakashi.

"Thanks," Kakashi said, opening the folder and taking out the necessary papers before handing them to Sasuke, who took them with a grunt. There were things in the folder that he really couldn't show to Sasuke, or even Jiraiya, Naruto's guardian, who had been standing with his arms crossed, frowning at the ground without a word. He had hardly said anything when Kakashi called to tell him they had a suspect or witness – they hadn't determined which one he was yet – and had yet to say a word since Kimimaro had first claimed that his ward was dead.

Finally, Jiraiya seemed to come out of his dark thoughts. "Read 'em out loud," he said to Sasuke, who nodded unconsciously.

"He was telling the truth about seeing Naruto around town," he began. "Also about Naruto being dragged in by two guys and tied to a chair." He swallowed. "But about Naruto being…_killed_," he bit out, "it is undetermined."

"We've got nothing on him, Sasuke," Kakashi said sadly. "Polygraphs cannot be used in court so we can only take Kimimaro for his word that Naruto is really…gone."

Despite the outer cool façade Kakashi portrayed, he was very fond of Naruto and it affected him greatly. Gai didn't know Naruto very well but, being who he was, he started weeping profusely and ranting about the youth being taken from one so young. Sasuke looked like he wasn't processing this new conclusion very well; he looked ready to cry, yell, murder, or run away, all at once. It was certainly the most emotions Kakashi had ever seen cross the boy's face, especially at one time. The most heart-wrenching part of the whole scene, however, was the one older man hunched over in the corner, a hand over his mouth, shoulders shaking, crying silently to himself. The tears trailed down his face unnoticed in the face of his despair. Kakashi knew Naruto's loving guardian would never get over his death; that the man would always blame himself for not being able to protect the boy that he loved as his own.

**...**

Naruto had just dozed off when he heard a footfall just inside the doorway of his assigned room. His eyes popped open and he rolled over to face his visitor. He had learned to be a light sleeper. Before, nothing short of a bomb dropping could have woken him. Now, though, through nerves or the senses training that Orochimaru had given him, he could hear a man's quiet breathing through the door when awake. Asleep, a footstep was easy to pick up on and bring him instantly alert.

"What do you want?" he spat when he saw a man in the doorway. Somehow – maybe it was the cruel grin, maybe it was the arrogant atmosphere surrounding him – Naruto just _knew_ that this was him. Kabuto.

"It's time to step up your…training."

_**So! Another chapter finished! I'm so proud of myself. I love writing but lately I haven't really been able to find the time to so, needless to say, I am ecstatic to have written this. I am well into the next chapter so I hope to keep with my self-imposed deadline of one a week. It would certainly be nice since I start classes again on the 27th!**_

_**Anyway, things are really rolling now! Only a short time until a time skip! Looking forward to it? ;)**_

_**~Rider~**_


	8. A Near Escape

**Chapter Seven**

"Orochimaru has found your performance up until now to be...less than acceptable," Kabuto said with a sneer. His boss had finally given him a semi-important job to complete on his own and he wasn't going to let this child screw that up. He would do whatever he had to in order to make the boy presentable.

Naruto scoffed. "What performance? All I've been doing is fighting and getting poked with needles."

"If that's all you think is going on, you're more stupid than I thought," Kabuto replied. "With all of the training that Orochimaru is giving you before you make a go as one of The Nine, you should be grateful. Most don't get the opportunity to prepare."

Scowling, Naruto bit back: "Jinchuuriki, The Nine, what the hell is it? I haven't been told anything! How can I be 'acceptable' when I don't even know what's going on!"

The boy was furious, Kabuto could tell, about being kept in the dark and being forced to do things for a reason he didn't understand. He didn't have the luxury or the right to know, however. It wasn't like he had volunteered, as he had pointed out to Orochimaru before. "The Jinchuuriki program is difficult. You will need to focus and throw yourself into the lessons that Orochimaru has set up for you. If not, you will die," Kabuto said with a smirk. "That's really all you need to know. Of course, Orochimaru may kill you before you even get the chance to try and become one of The Nine if you don't start showing some respect and initiative." Which Kabuto secretly half-wished for. He needed to prove himself to The Snake, though, so he was going to give it his all to get the kid in top shape. In fact, with the kid's IQ score and strategy-building capabilities, he may even try to get the kid up to the Nine Tails level. With a grin, he decided that that was just what he would aim for.

"Respect?" the blonde spit the word out like it tasted foul. "Initiative? Bullshit! I'm being held here against my will and forced to do things for some stupid program that no one will explain to me! And what the hell is up with all this 'Nine' crap?"

"Shut. Up," Kabuto bit out, teeth clenched, spittle flying from his open lips. "Orochimaru has had enough of your ungratefulness. He allowed you to live and this is what he gets? Half-hearted work? _That_ is bullshit!" Naruto went to interrupt but Kabuto hurried on before he could. "No, listen!" he shouted. "Right now, I am the only person who can keep you alive. I will train you and if you do well, I will put in a good word to Orochimaru."

Naruto thought about this. So he just did what this guy said – the guy who killed his parents – and he could get the ball rolling? This left a sour taste in his mouth. "No way in hell," he growled.

"You will not make it through the first test as a Jinchuuriki," Kabuto replied.

"And that would be…?"

Kabuto smiled. "Now, now, that would ruin the surprise, wouldn't it?"

"Argh!" Naruto yelled in frustration. "Screw it. I'm not doing this stupid Jinchuuriki thing or becoming a Nine or whatever it was. The worst you can do is kill me, right? I don't have to listen to you." He crossed his arms over his chest and glared.

A slow grin formed on Kabuto's face. "I was hoping you would say that."

Naruto could feel cold dread settle in the pit of his stomach at the statement. Surely, he would regret his angered outburst.

**...**

He could be dead? Naruto, his idiot best friend, could have been murdered?

"…uke!"

Of course, it wasn't definitive. It had been decided in court that the case on Kimimaro wasn't conclusive; that they had no evidence that Naruto was dead based on what was presented during the trial. There was no evidence that he was alive, either, however. Sighing, he stared deeper into his cup of black coffee that he cradled in his hands, trying to drag the truth out of its dark depths.

"Sasuke!"

The trial had not gone well. Not surprisingly, Kakashi had been right about the polygraph results not being held as true evidence in court, but Sasuke had clung to the dim hope that they might still bring it up, if only to sway the jury even a _little_ in their favor. Of course, that meant that the case could be dismissed altogether on the grounds of faulty evidence so it wasn't an option. Kimimaro had relayed his story flawlessly; no doubt he had practiced it over and over in his head. Hell, Sasuke thought he might even have recited it _backwards_. The jury had no reason to doubt his claim and had even looked up the gang he claimed to be a part of. Apparently, it really was a legit gang.

The only thing that Sasuke could really think about, though, was the fact that Kimimaro was getting away. Well, he was going to jail for five years for breaking and entering and intent to distribute cocaine. Even that was a stretch since the police couldn't prove that Kimimaro had been at that drug warehouse or even that he really was going to steal cocaine. They didn't even have evidence that the man was going to sell it. They only got the charges to stick because of a previous record he had with the drug. And the piteous jury when they saw the state that Jiraiya was in and saw the picture of Naruto happily grinning at the camera.

Sasuke would never see that smile again…

"SASUKE!"

Sasuke nearly jumped out of his skin but managed not to show any outward signs before turning his signature glare on the girl sitting beside him. "What?" he snapped grouchily.

Sakura didn't seem to be affected, unfortunately. "You've been staring at that cup of coffee for twenty minutes, Sasuke," she replied softly. She knew how hard Sasuke was taking Naruto's…disappearance.

"Hn," he replied intelligently.

Sakura sighed. "Sasuke," she started hesitantly, "he might not be…you know." She shrugged, knowing he would understand. Sasuke had made it fairly clear to everyone that saying the word 'dead' was pretty much forbidden.

"Doesn't really matter, does it?" he asked bitterly. "Kakashi told me that Asuma is already filing the paperwork to dismiss the case."

"That doesn't mean they're closing the case, though," Sakura reminded.

"No," Sasuke spat, "it just means that finding Naruto is no longer a _priority_."

Sakura looked down at her hands. She found Sasuke sitting here, in the booth at Sharingan Café as she had been walking past. He had looked more withdrawn than usual and she had felt the need to try and offer some small form of comfort. Normally she left him to his own devices, since that was always what he had wanted in the past, but she had decided against it today. Apparently Sasuke had needed the company as much as she thought since he didn't turn her away. She knew how much he missed Naruto. Now came the hard part: being the bearer of painful facts. "The only thing that they have to go by is a witness statement that Naruto is dead." She received a harsh glare at this but she pushed on, managing to only flinch a little at the look. "With nothing more conclusive, what were you expecting? They can't chase one person forever. They do have other cases to deal with."

Sasuke abruptly stood, pinning Sakura with a hard look. "So you agree with them? You agree that the case should just be dropped?"

"No," Sakura was quick to assure. She held her hands up in a placating gesture. "They haven't dropped the case, Sasuke, they just…"

"Put it aside?" Sasuke supplied.

"Yeah…" Sakura admitted reluctantly. That didn't sound much better.

"What the hell, Sakura!?"

Sakura jumped. An outburst from Sasuke was definitely unexpected. Actually, she didn't think she had ever seen him blow up like he was now.

"Don't you even care, Sakura?" he asked, his voice low and dangerous.

"I do," Sakura squeaked. This new side of Sasuke was making her nervous.

"He was supposed to be your friend, too, Sakura," Sasuke said slowly. "_Is _supposed to be your friend," he corrected himself.

Sakura swallowed. "He is my friend, Sasuke," she reassured, "but what if Kimimaro is telling the truth?"

"HE'S LYING!" Sasuke roared. "And you would know that if you really _cared_ and really wanted to find Naruto!"

With that, Sasuke pulled some bills out of his pocket and slapped them down on the table for his coffee before walking out of the café. The waitress was probably going to get one heck of a tip but he really didn't care at the moment. He was too enraged to sit and count out the cash.

Stuffing his hands in his pockets, he let his shoulders slump as he walked. He knew he had been too harsh to Sakura and that she was probably crying right now, but he was too riled up to care. Later, he would feel guilty. Later, he would have to apologize. For now, though, he really just needed to cool his head. It wasn't fair to take out all of his fear and frustrations on her but he had needed to vent desperately. She had been the unfortunate one to invade on his space when all he wanted to do was sit and wallow in his despair and curse the police and Kimimaro to hell.

Speaking of the police, how the hell did Konoha manage to get such a shitty police force? They couldn't catch a criminal if there was one robbing a bank in front of them! Scowling, he made up his mind. Once he graduated high school, he would enter the Konoha Police Academy and join the KPD. He would do some good in his town and actually accomplish what the police _should_ accomplish.

With his mind made up, his stride lengthened just slightly now that he had a purpose. He _would_ find out what happened to his best friend: good or bad.

**...**

Naruto cried out in pain and strained at his bonds. He knew he would pay for back-talking to Kabuto but this was a little extreme. He stared down at his bloody arm where the needle still punctured his skin. He had to shake his head a couple times to get the cold sweat out of his eyes and immediately regretted it as it sent his head spinning and spots appeared in his vision. He groaned at the effects of the drug in his veins. Damn did it hurt.

It had been three days since Kabuto's threat and he had made good on it. Naruto had been miserable since then. Apparently, Naruto would need to be able to resist any drugs in his system and still be coherent. Because of this, Kabuto had been insistent upon shoving every type of drug he could think of into Naruto's veins and down his throat. Naruto didn't think he would be able to eat anything ever again with how raw his throat felt and how nauseous he was all the time. The worst, though, was when Kabuto had gotten impatient with the side effects that Naruto had been feeling and caused him to overdose in his haste. A stomach pump was something Naruto never wanted to experience again. To make matters worse, as soon as he was able to breathe normally and speak coherent sentences, Kabuto was already pumping him full of more drugs. The man insisted that this was an imperative part of his 'training' but Naruto knew it for what it was – torture. Kabuto wanted his absolute cooperation and would use any method to get it. All for Orochimaru. Suck up.

"That was better than last time," Kabuto said from behind him. "I think we're done for the day." Reaching over the boy's shoulders, he unclasped the buckles on his wrists and left the ones on his ankles for Naruto. He had learned early on that Naruto took every opportunity to kick him in the balls that he could and had decided to play it safe. "We'll take the next twenty minutes to review on your weapons identification skills and their advantages and disadvantages," he declared.

Naruto grumbled something that Kabuto couldn't hear but he chose to ignore it.

When they had finished – Naruto having answered every question perfectly, not surprising to Kabuto – the man escorted Naruto to his next destination: weaponry. Now that he knew what each weapon was, he had to learn to fight with and counter each one of them.

"You should really feel grateful that I am spending so much time with you, Naruto," Kabuto smirked.

"Screw you!" Naruto spat. He was still feeling groggy and his mind seemed to be moving too slow.

Kabuto smiled sadistically. "You know, you're really going to start hating me when you find out what I have in store for you."

Naruto glared. "I already hate you, he muttered."

This surprised Kabuto a bit. "Oh? I don't think what I have done so far is too bad yet."

"You killed my parents."

Kabuto searched his thoughts. No, he didn't remember ever murdering anyone. At least, not a couple. "Perhaps I used one drug too many that last time," he replied.

Suddenly, Kabuto found himself pinned to the wall, the blonde nuisance glaring up at him fiercely. "You killed them, you bastard! You got drunk, got in your car, and crashed into my parents! They're _dead _because of you!"

Oh-ho! Kabuto thought that Naruto had looked familiar to him when they had first met but he had shrugged it off, figuring he had caught a glimpse of him around town somewhere. "So you're that child? I see," he mused. How could he use this to his advantage?

"Bastard! You don't even care!" the blonde accused.

"Do you know how many people have died at my hands over the years? More than you would care to know," he stated, answering his own question. This seemed to enrage the boy further.

"So they're just a number to you!?" he yelled. "They were people!"

Kabuto smiled. Hatred. That was something he could use in his favor, to toughen the kid up. "Yes, they were a number. I couldn't even recall their faces if I tried. But I do keep track of the number of people I kill." A lie. "In fact, your parents were numbers 37 and 38." Another lie. He didn't keep track and he really didn't remember that drunken drive that took two lives.

Naruto roared and slammed his fist into Kabuto's stomach, glaring at the man as he hunched over. "I'll kill you, you bastard," he practically growled.

Kabuto straightened up and looked the boy in the face. "I'd like to see you try."

Needless to say, the older male won, forcing Naruto's face on the ground and twisting his arm up between his shoulder blades painfully. Naruto's only response was a small grunt in protest at the rough treatment.

"If you know what's good for you, you won't do that again," Kabuto sneered.

Naruto just glared awkwardly at him from his position on the floor, earning him a cuff to the head. "Bastard," he muttered.

"You need to put that hatred to good use. Instead of taking it out on me now, hold onto it," Kabuto advised. "You'll need it later, I promise, so bottle it up, store it for later use. Trust me."

"Like I would trust someone like you," Naruto ground out. "You're nothing but a low-life dog for Orochimaru."

Kabuto glared and forcefully picked the smaller boy up by the collar of his jacket and slammed him against the wall, fist in the boy's throat, choking him. "You don't have the right to say his name. Learn to respect us or die. Those are your options." Abruptly, Kabuto let go of the struggling blonde and let him drop to his knees on the floor. "You're late for your weapons training. Get going."

Today's training had consisted of learning to dodge and block bullets with a katana and retaliating. Needless to say, Naruto was sore from the unfamiliar task of handling the heavy blade but he found that he was more comfortable with it rather than any other weapon he had been forced to learn with so far. It wasn't a great match for a gun, though, the proof being on the multiple shallow nicks from bullets as they flew by, unhindered. His teacher was a guy with orange spiked hair with lots of facial piercings and weird eyes; he called himself Pein. The man said that, with time, practice, and – go figure – the familiarity of pain, he would learn to avoid bullets. He had said that eventually he would be able to do it instinctually by sight and sound; his body would apparently just _move_. Naruto didn't think he would be there that long; he had a plan for escape.

He had discovered that once a week (give or take; he could be wrong sine he hadn't been there for long), Orochimaru had some kind of chemical or drug shipped out in large quantities. Where they went, Naruto didn't know. At this point, however, he didn't really care. All he was focused on was getting away from this place.

Naruto estimated that the boxes of stuff should be shipped out later that day and he planned on emptying one and hiding the contents, replacing them with himself. He had roughly measured the area of the box, held each package of substance in his hand to estimate the weight, counted each package in the box, and guesstimated that the weight would be approximately the same as his own body weight. It was perfect. Wherever he ended up being taken to, it was going to be worth it. He would be away from all of this shit.

Heaving a heavy sigh that was almost too big for his small frame, he made his way back to his room for the time being for a short nap before he executed his plan.

**...**

"You can't come, Sasuke, no matter how much you insist."

"Kakashi, Naruto – "

"Is your best friend, I know," Kakashi said patiently. "But you still cannot come on a bust."

"It isn't a bust, it's an investigation."

"Of a drug warehouse, Sasuke," Kakashi retorted. "And a potential murder scene," he added softly.

Sasuke balled his hands into fists. "I'll stay in the squad car."

Kakashi sighed. The boy wasn't going to give up on this. "All right," he said. He held up a finger when Sasuke opened his mouth to reply. "But you will stay in the _back_ of the squad car to ensure that you don't get out."

Sasuke hesitated. He hadn't thought Kakashi would think about that. "Fine," he bit out.

Kakashi smiled beneath his odd mask and placed a comforting hand on Sasuke's shoulder. "I want to solve this investigation and catch the people responsible just as much as you do, Sasuke."

Sasuke swallowed and nodded, knowing there wasn't much need for more.

**...**

It was time. Naruto took a deep breath and pushed himself off the bed. Slipping on his orange jacket, the one that Orochimaru surprisingly let him keep, he pulled on his shoes and stepped out the door. Now he had to make his way up four flights of stairs and into a back room at the very end of the hall. Once there, he picked a box towards the middle of the room and began emptying it out and hiding the contents. Worrying that someone would stumble across any discarded packages, he took it upon himself to begin the long task of placing one package into each of some of the other boxes. It was a tight fit but he managed. Next, he stuffed himself inside the box. It was difficult and uncomfortable but he had no choice.

Positioning himself on his back with his knees up, he closed up the box in the same fashion as he found it and waited.

He didn't have to wait long. He soon heard footsteps in the hallway. The door opened, and boxes began to be moved. There was no changing his mind. He was now on his way to freedom.

**...**

"Which warehouse are we investigating?" Sasuke asked from his seat in the back of Kakashi and Gai's squad car. Kakashi was driving and he was glad for that; he didn't think he could handle Gai's 'youthful' driving.

"You asked to come without knowing?"

Sasuke gave Kakashi a flat stare through the rearview mirror.

"Fine, fine," Kakashi said. "It's the warehouse that Naruto was supposedly taken to, according to Kimimaro."

"Hn."

"Glad you approve," Kakashi said sarcastically.

"Come now, Kakashi, don't be like that," Gai piped up. Sasuke inwardly groaned. He was thankful that Kakashi didn't reply to goad the annoying man on, however, into one of his youth spiels.

Gai seemed to realize that Sasuke needed his silence for the time being and the ride to the warehouse was almost pleasantly quiet.

"We're here," Kakashi announced, putting the squad car in park and cutting the engine. He turned to Sasuke. "The back doors only open from the outside; if someone other than an officer opens that door, you kick 'em and run, understand?" Sasuke merely rolled his eyes at the older man but Kakashi knew he heard and understood.

"Let's go, Kakashi," Gai said as he leaned inside the car, "the others are already here."

Kakashi nodded and got out, closing the door behind him, leaving Sasuke alone to stare out the window in anticipation with his thoughts.

**...**

Naruto felt himself being set down and heard as another box was set atop his. He hoped that he didn't get buried so deep that he couldn't free himself from the square prison. Wouldn't that be just grand? Escape certain death from two psycho killers, a crazy scientist doctor, and a malicious underground leader only to die inside a box. Such an honorable death.

Pushing those thoughts aside, he focused on remaining still and not making a sound, even that of clothing rustling on the corners. It hadn't been easy when he was being hefted and carried, shaken around thoughtlessly.

It seemed like hours before Naruto could no longer hear footsteps or quiet talking. To be safe, he waited even longer after that to be sure no one came back. When he could hear no sounds, he reached his arms up slowly and gently pressed upon the top of the box. It didn't move. Slightly unnerved, he pushed a little harder. He was relieved when he felt it shift slightly. At least he wasn't too deep in a stack. Hesitating, he took a moment to listen again, just as a precaution. Finally satisfied, he pushed upwards forcefully. He heard several boxes fall off the stack atop him and quickly tipped his own off balance, dumping himself on the floor. He didn't think he could straighten himself up and step out of it without tumbling more boxes in the process with his stiff and aching body. That box may have accommodated him, but it certainly wasn't comfortable.

Scrambling to his feet, he quickly, albeit stiffly, rushed to hide among the stacks of drugs strewn all over the place, taking a moment to survey his surroundings. It was a giant of a place. The large garage-like doors, positioned at what Naruto assumed to be the front of the building, were so large that he could see them over all of the boxes, a feat indeed. Making his way slowly through the maze, he began picking his way towards the exit when he heard a metallic screeching sound. He quickly understood what it was: someone was opening those doors.

Panicking, he ducked down, taking refuge amongst the cardboard and drugs, and watched as the doors were lifted. His eyes widened at the figures silhouetted in the doorway.

**...**

Gai whistled. "Looks like we've got our drug evidence, eh, Kakashi?"

"Yeah," Kakashi answered, looking around. He held his gun in hand as a precaution, Gai doing the same beside him. He looked over his shoulder to address the other police agents accompanying them. "Let's do a quick sweep of the area, take some pictures, and then we'll have a couple trucks brought out to load this stuff up and haul it away." He received a few quick 'yes, sirs' from the officers before they split up to do as they were told.

"Well, Kakashi," Gai said as he sidled up to the gray-haired man, "at least we have enough evidence to bust Orochimaru for _something._"

Kakashi smiled bitterly. "No," he said, "we don't."

"What do you mean? There's enough cocaine to put him away for life!"

"It would be," Kakashi agreed, "if this warehouse were under Orochimaru's name."

"What?" Gai asked. "I thought he owned this place."

"So did I," Kakashi said. "Apparently, though, that isn't the case. Our inside guy can only give us so much information. He may not even know that it doesn't belong to Orochimaru."

"Damn," Gai swore, "we were so close…"

"Yeah. Let's just get this done. Look for anything that indicates Naruto was here."

"Got it."

**...**

Kakashi! And Gai! Naruto had never been happier to see the two of them. He stood up and prepared himself to call out to the two officers when he suddenly felt a sharp pain on the back of his head, could feel a warm, sticky substance trickle down to drop to the floor, and the world went dark.

The last thing he heard before he completely blacked out was Kabuto's condescending tone, seemingly from far away.

"You shouldn't have done that, Naruto. Orochimaru is not pleased."

**...**

Sasuke tapped his fingers on his knee impatiently while staring intently into the warehouse. He could see the officers making their way through it methodically, searching for threats. Sasuke hated this; he hated this anticipation and anxiety.

Grabbing the handle, he gave it a tug and cursed when it refused to open the door. Damn Kakashi and his squad car! He wanted to be out there, looking for signs of Naruto!

Frustrated, he banged his head against window and huffed. He had decided to become a police officer just the other day; why couldn't Kakashi let him come along today? There wasn't a soul around to –

Sasuke cut off his thoughts and squinted. He thought he saw a movement. Something in all the boxes, hiding. A person? He stared intently at the spot for a while but didn't see anything further. Letting out a breath he hadn't known he was holding, he slumped back into the seat of the car. Now his mind was playing tricks on him, showing him something that he wanted to be there.

_Damn it._

**_Ah-ha, another chapter done! I'm really on a roll, aren't I? The story is really moving now! I have big plans for this fic. Big, big plans! There will be twists and turns and loops and all kinds of confusing things - well, confusing things for the poor characters, not for the readers, I hope._**

**_Anyway, thank you for sticking with me, guys! _**

**_~Rider~_**


	9. Of Pain and Corruption

**Chapter Eight**

"Did you get the results?" Sasuke asked, even before his cell phone finished ringing.

"_Yeah_," Kakashi drawled. "_It's definitely Naruto's blood._"

Sasuke let out the breath he was holding. So the boy had really been at the warehouse, as Kimimaro had said. The evidence was in the blood that Kakashi's team of police had discovered among some boxes. But was his friend really dead? "Kimimaro said that Naruto was tied to a chair, though, not hiding like he was."

"_That's what doesn't make sense,"_ Kakashi said. "_It's Naruto's blood but we can't tell how long it had been there. It was dry, that's all we know, but the lab technician said it could be as old as the day he was abducted or as recent as when we found the blood."_

"Did they say if…if he was dead?" Sasuke asked haltingly.

The teen heard Kakashi sigh over the phone. "_They still don't know. It's hard to tell for sure." _

"Can you at least use the blood in the investigation?"

Kakashi paused. "_Yes and no. With things other than DNA identification, it is very hard to get lab results to hold up in court unless they are definitive. Without a positive date on when the blood was spilled, we can't prove exactly when Naruto was at the warehouse. The only thing that we can use out of this is that he was definitely there. That's something, at least._"

Sasuke scowled. "It isn't going to bring him back, though. Or take down Orochimaru, or whoever did this. _Or_ tell us if Naruto is alive…"

"_True,"_ Kakashi began sadly, "_but I do have some good news._"

"Yeah?" Sasuke questioned skeptically. "And what would that be?"

"_We managed to track down the two men Kimimaro said captured Naruto._"

"How can we take Kimimaro at his word?"

"_We can't," _Kakashi replied. _"They match the description that Chiyo gave us when Naruto was first taken."_

**...**

Naruto refused to make a sound; he wouldn't give the sick bastards the pleasure. But damn was it hard.

Blood poured down his cheeks unhindered, dripping off his chin and to the ground like tears. His head hurt and he could feel his hair matted from blood where Kabuto had knocked him unconscious with a crow-bar late yesterday. If felt like a lot longer ago.

Since being brought back from his failed escape attempt almost ten hours ago, he had been beaten and strung up to the ceiling by his wrists with wire. Every now and then, he could feel it bite into his skin when his muscles grew too tired and sore and he could no longer fist the painful restraint and hold himself up. That, or the blood from the crisscrossing wounds made him slip. He would never admit it, but he was actually slightly grateful now for his conditioning with Mizuki. However short the training had been, it still made that little bit of a difference.

"There, now," Kabuto sneered, setting down the sharp knife in his hand and admiring his work. If he was going to strive for the best to impress Orochimaru by making the boy into the Nine-Tails, he may as well help the brat to look like a fox. And he would, once the cuts healed over on the once flawless skin; it would seem as if Naruto had three whiskers on each cheek. Not that that was the only reason he did it: he was also pissed that the annoying little shit had almost ruined this for him.

Naruto glared at the man. "You're sick," he spat.

Kabuto grinned. "Why, thank you."

Naruto just continued to try and burn holes into the crazy 'doctor' with his eyes.

"Now, now, Naruto," Orochimaru piped up finally. He had been sitting in a chair across from Naruto on the other side of the room where he could watch everything. "You shouldn't make such faces at the one person who can teach you to make it through the trials ahead."

Naruto switched his hard glare from Kabuto to Orochimaru. "I could help myself if you would just tell me what it is I'm supposed to be faced with and _leave me the hell alone_."

"Tsk, tsk," Orochimaru said mockingly. "Such an ungrateful child you turned out to be. I already gave you an upper hand on the other candidates just by training you. I don't usually do that," he explained thoughtfully, like he didn't understand it himself. "I have put my faith in you, and in Kabuto, and taken a chance that I can use you for something other than a ransom."

This caused Naruto to hesitate. "Ransom?" he asked. There was a chance Jiraiya could get him out of this place?

Orochimaru grinned; it was a creepy sight. "Don't sound too hopeful, Naruto," he chided. "I have decided _not_ to ransom you."

Naruto's face immediately fell. "Why the hell not?" he demanded. "My godfather could pay you a pretty good sum, one that you wouldn't want to pass up."

Orochimaru smiled again. "There are two problems with that."

"Such as…?"

"One, although I do make quite a bit of money off of kidnapping rich children and ransoming them off, I can't help but like you. Must be that strong defiance I can see in your eyes. It should be fun to mold you."

Naruto chose to ignore that last part for his own sake. "What do you mean? You do this kind of thing all the time?"

"Oh, no, Naruto," Orochimaru said, as if talking to a child. "I don't normally keep the children that come to me. I can't tolerate them. You are an unusual exception. And as you said: the money is just too good. It's an easy way to fund some divisions of my…business."

Naruto didn't want to know what other 'business' Orochimaru had other than drug manufacturing and distribution. "You said there were two problems," Naruto reminded reluctantly. He was having trouble focusing with the pain and discomfort he was in but he wanted the damn Snake to hurry up and finish his little taunting speech.

"Yes, well," Orochimaru began, as if he were about to divulge something shameful. Naruto wasn't buying it. "You see, Naruto, your godfather is broke."

Naruto stared blankly. "Broke…?" he asked stupidly. What was this man talking about? His godfather was rich! He owned a mansion, for christ's sake!

"So you _didn't_ know," Orochimaru crowed gloatingly. "I thought not."

"Wait," Naruto said, coming back to his senses, "how do you know who my godfather even is? I never told you anything but my first name," he stated suspiciously.

Orochimaru shook his head. "You may have a truly brilliant mind, Naruto, but you lack common sense." Naruto glared but the criminal under lord continued, unperturbed: "You're all over the news, in the newspapers; there are _fliers_ all over town, of all things." Orochimaru chuckled at this. "It wasn't hard to find out who you were, where you came from, and – of course – your life story."

Naruto paled. "Okay," he said slowly, processing this information, "but why do you say my godfather is broke?"

"_Jiraiya_," Orochimaru stressed the name, to prove that he knew just what he claimed, "has been in debt for a long time now. It seems that the only reason he is able to keep his mansion is because he already had it paid off, and the only reason he hasn't sold it to pay his debts is so you don't find out."

"But…but _how_?" Naruto asked desperately.

"Someone had to pay for your parents' hospital and funeral bills."

"The insurance pays for hospital bills," Naruto said, "so Jiraiya would only have to pay for the funeral costs. He could have afforded that easily."

"He could have," Orochimaru affirmed, "but your parents weren't rich. They didn't have insurance for themselves; they could only afford medical insurance for you."

Naruto swallowed guiltily and flexed his cold, numb fingers, allowing himself to hang his full weight on the wire for a moment so the blood would flow back into the digits. After a moment, he gritted his teeth, fisted the wire again, and pulled himself back up. His muscles shook from the strain and fatigue. "Jiraiya still could have afforded the bills easily."

"Yes," Orochimaru murmured, watching the boy, "except he had to pay a rather large sum to become your guardian."

Naruto's eyes widened. "What?" he asked incredulously. "What do you mean? He was my godfather; he should have become my guardian automatically."

"True," Orochimaru said, "but some distant relatives of your father heard about your parents' deaths and knew of Jiraiya's occupation. They didn't approve, apparently. They got a lawyer and dug up some unflattering information from your godfather's past: drinking, drugs, buying whores, things such as that. He had to pay off the judge to rule in his favor as well as your father's relatives so they would agree to stay away and drop the case."

"Who were they?"

"Does it matter?" Orochimaru asked.

"I guess not," Naruto muttered dejectedly. There went that hope of getting out of this place. And now, he had to feel guilty about ruining his godfather's financial status.

Orochimaru smirked at the crestfallen look on the boy's face and stood up. Walking over to the hanging child, he grabbed Naruto's chin, ignoring the blood that flowed from his cheeks, and lifted it so he could look into those blue eyes. "Do you feel it?" he murmured. Naruto furrowed his brow in question and a small smile formed on Orochimaru's lips. "Has the hopelessness settled into your heart yet? Do you finally understand that you are mine and that you shall never be free of me or your fate? Unless, of course," he said thoughtfully, "you die."

Naruto glared. "I don't belong to you," he growled, "and I will find a way to escape."

Orochimaru leaned forward and brought his lips close to Naruto's ear. "I think not," he whispered.

Naruto shivered in disgust at the breath that ghosted over his skin. Jerking back, he glared fiercely at Orochimaru, before smiling coldly.

And spitting directly in the man's smirking face.

"You little shit!" Orochimaru roared, backhanding Naruto across the face so hard that the boy's head jerked sideways and his surroundings spun. "Kabuto!" he called as he wiped the offending spittle off his face.

"Yes, sir," Kabuto answered quickly, stunned at what the blonde had had the nerve to do.

"Teach this ungrateful child some respect," he growled, walking towards the door to leave, "before I change my mind about giving him the opportunity to become a Jinchuuriki and just kill him now."

"Understood," Kabuto said with a slow grin. The door slammed behind Orochimaru in his fury and Kabuto turned back to Naruto. "It seems that I no longer have to hold back with you, Naruto. You will no longer be treated as if you were a volunteer; you will now be treated as you should be: a tool and nothing more." He sauntered over to a table behind Naruto that the boy could not see. Running a hand along some of his favorite tools, his eyes caught sight of one in particular and he smiled. _Perfect. _He picked it up and walked back to stand behind Naruto.

The whip cracked and Naruto cried out at the first of what was to be many lashes.

**...**

"Which one is this?" Sasuke asked of Gai, his attention focused solely on the man behind the glass. Kakashi was currently questioning him.

"Kakuzu," Gai replied, also watching the man. When a patrol car had picked him up and brought him in, his face and hair had been entirely covered. For identification purposes, they had allowed the man to remain that way until Chiyo had come to the station and identified him and the other man, Hidan. Afterwards, he had been asked to remove the hat and face mask in order to take pictures and read facial expressions during interrogation. Now, his unruly brown hair stuck out everywhere and his odd, green-red eyes glared at Kakashi. He seemed to always be grinning while frowning, oddly, because of strange scars that stretched from the corners of his lips up to his jaw; there were suture scars that showed where stitches had been placed to help the weird injury heal.

"How long has he been in there?" Sasuke inquired. He had just gotten out of class – it was odd: Naruto was missing and he was still performing normal, everyday activities such as going to school – and had had his brother, Itachi, drive him straight to the police station before the older boy went to his university classes.

Itachi was five years older than Sasuke, making him nineteen. Oddly, the elder of the two Uchiha wanted to open a foster home for orphaned, abused, or underprivileged children. Sasuke thought that it might have something to do with the fact that, during their childhood, the two boys' parents had virtually ignored them. There was always something they had to do, money that had to be made, things that were always more important than their own sons. This resulted in Itachi practically raising himself and Sasuke. They had never received or understood familial love, resulting in stunted emotional growth, according to the counselor his parents had sent him to when he was nine. That had been brought on for no other reason than because Sasuke had gotten into a verbal fight with a kid at school who said his hair looked like a duck's ass.

"Not too long," Gai answered.

"Hn. What did we find out?"

"Well, they're pretty pissed that Kimimaro ratted them out," Gai chuckled. "They were both very expressive about that. Kimimaro ought to be grateful that he's in prison right now and away from them."

"Yeah," Sasuke said, frowning. "Are they really in that gang Kimimaro was talking about? Shikotsumyaku?"

"No," Gai said with a shake of his head. "Asuma hired some detective to look into the gang. He was telling the truth about it being a gang in Otogakure, but it hasn't extended its reach as far as Konoha yet and neither he, nor these two scum bags are members."

Hope bloomed in Sasuke's chest. "Then they're from Orochimaru's gang," he stated.

"We think so, yes," Gai answered, "but since Orochimaru doesn't force any of his members to wear a form of identification on their body like most others do – except for his Jinchuuriki – we have no proof. Again," he said in exasperation.

"Damn," Sasuke swore. Then something in his head clicked. "What's a Jinchuuriki?"

Gai shook his head. "I'm sorry, Sasuke, that's classified police information. I shouldn't have even mentioned it."

Sasuke scowled but let the subject drop. He would find out everything when he graduated from the Konoha Police Academy.

Just then, Kakashi walked into the observation room. Sasuke hadn't even noticed that the questioning was over.

"'Lo, Sasuke," Kakashi said, one hand up in greeting as the man rushed over to the small table in the room. He grabbed the pot full of freshly brewed coffee and poured himself a cup. He gulped down the hot contents quickly and poured himself another before turning to look at the room's other two occupants. "I trust you had a good day in school?"

Sasuke scoffed. He had never had a good relationship with his father so Kakashi felt like he should take on the fatherly duties. And in some ways, Sasuke really did think of Kakashi as a fatherly figure. "Yeah, if you count seeing Naruto's face all over the place as a reminder to be careful where you go alone," he said sarcastically. He hated seeing his best friend's face all over his school for people to mock. They made fun of the child with the goofy grin who was stupid enough to be in downtown Konoha without an adult. It pissed Sasuke off.

Kakashi sighed. "We'll find him someday, Sasuke. I promise."

"So you say," Sasuke said, "but are we talking about finding his body or finding him alive and well?"

Kakashi didn't have an answer to that. "I'm sorry, Sasuke. I know how much you miss him."

"No," Sasuke bit out, "you don't."

"Well, maybe not," Kakashi allowed, "but I do know how much _I_ miss him. I was close to him, too, don't forget."

"Hn," Sasuke replied in acquiescence. He forgot sometimes how much Naruto had brightened a lot of people's lives. He wasn't just _Sasuke's_ friend – best friend – there were others that were close to him as well.

Kakashi put a hand on Sasuke's shoulder. "No matter what happens, we'll take down whoever orchestrated this eventually. But in the meantime, we can focus on taking down the ones responsible for initially taking Naruto away from us."

Sasuke just stood leaning against the wall, his arms crossed over his chest as he stared at the ground.

Kakashi frowned and let a sigh escape from his lips. "Come on," he said, "I'll treat you to a late lunch."

**...**

A foot nudged him hard in the stomach and Naruto groaned, coming awake groggily. The first thing that he noticed was that he was back in the room Orochimaru had given to him and that he was curled in on himself, laying on the floor. He tried to shift into a better position but winced and stilled when his back screamed in protest and he felt bile rising in his throat. Suddenly, memories came back to him unbidden: Kabuto cutting the previously unmarred skin on his cheeks, spitting in Orochimaru's face, being backhanded, Kabuto lashing him with a whip who knew how many times; he had passed out after thirty-two. Blinking, he looked up at the person with the offending boot that had brought him back to awareness and pain.

"About time you woke up," Kabuto sneered, toeing Naruto in the ribs cruelly.

Naruto groaned again and glared. "What," he asked hoarsely, "come to pick on the poor, helpless kid again?"

"I would say you are far from helpless, Naruto," Kabuto replied thoughtfully. "Most children your age – actually," he corrected, "most _people_ can't handle the pain that you can. They don't have results such as yours on the tests and evaluations we gave you. And," he concluded, "they don't have your determination and desire to live and _redeem yourself_."

Naruto looked up sharply. "I'm not afraid to die," he said.

"I didn't say that," Kabuto reminded. "I can see that you do not fear death, but you _do _want to live. You want to live to escape and, most likely, to take your revenge on Orochimaru. Am I right?"

Naruto's silence was answer enough for Kabuto.

"You must hold onto that," he said urgently. "Hold onto the will to live so that one day, maybe, you can escape and take Orochimaru out."

"Why do you care whether I live or die?" Naruto asked skeptically.

"Don't get any ideas," Kabuto said. "The only reason I want you to live is so I can look good for Orochimaru. He put me in charge of making you a Jinchuuriki and I plan on succeeding. You _will_ be the best, if I can help it, which means you need to strive to be the Nine-Tails Jinchuuriki."

Naruto groaned and flopped over onto his back quickly, hissing at the pain in the lacerations, before grabbing the bed beside him and pulling himself into a sitting position. He then looked up at Kabuto, pain showing clearly in his eyes. "What is the Nine-Tails? What is a Jinchuuriki?"

Kabuto smiled. "I'm not supposed to tell you anything. Orochimaru likes for Jinchuuriki candidates to go in blind so that they are forced to discover their own abilities and limitations. I will tell you, though, that the Nine-Tails, also known as Kyuubi no Kitsune, is the highest level a Jinchuuriki can obtain. It won't just be handed to you, however," he pointed out, "you will have to work for it."

Naruto still wasn't satisfied with that answer but it was more than he had gotten the other times he asked. "So," he said slowly, "what are these tests that I'm supposed to pass?"

Kabuto hesitated before looking around the room, as if to check if they were alone. "If Orochimaru finds out that I told you this, he will kill us both, do you understand?" At Naruto's nod, he continued: "The tests are always different after the first one, so I can't tell you about any of those. I can tell you, though, that you will need your will to live in order to get past the first test. Your performance through that can decide on how you will perform in other tests, but not always."

Naruto was starting to get impatient. "You still haven't told me what I'm supposed to do. And when am I supposed to take this test?" he demanded.

"The test is tonight," Kabuto began –

"What!" Naruto interrupted indignantly. "How the hell am I supposed to do any sort of test with how I am?" He waved a hand over himself as if Kabuto hadn't noticed the condition he was in.

"You will have to manage," Kabuto said, "or die."

Naruto swallowed. "I assume that this test isn't written?" he asked, already knowing the answer. Kabuto shook his head slowly and Naruto sighed. "What do I have to do?"

"You will be given a weapon and put in a dark, enclosed room. There will be fourteen others with you. Whoever is left standing passes the test."

It took a moment for what Kabuto said to process. He laughed shakily and dragged a hand through his blonde, blood encrusted locks. "You're kidding, right?"

"No."

"This…_test_…is to _kill people_?" he asked, his voice cracking.

"Yes," Kabuto answered.

"No," Naruto said adamantly, shaking his head. He instantly regretted doing so when he got dizzy from his head injury. "No. I won't do it. You can tell Orochimaru to stuff this test up his _ass_. If he wants to kill me, then so be it. I won't murder anyone."

Kabuto sighed. "Orochimaru said you would say that."

"No shit!" Naruto fumed. "Who in their right mind would agree to that!?"

"Naruto," Kabuto called. When he had the boy's attention, he pulled out an envelope from his back pocket and opened it. "I want to show you something." He then began taking pictures out of the envelope and placing them in front of Naruto. The blonde's breath caught.

"W-why do you have those?" he asked shakily.

"I was told to give you an incentive, if need be. These people are close to you, correct?"

Naruto nodded slowly. Before him lie pictures of Jiraiya, Tsunade, Kakashi, and Kurenai. All of the people he considered family; hell, even his social worker was there. He felt his mouth go dry. The only good thing was that it seemed Orochimaru only knew about those close to him who had paper trails that lead right to them: Jiraiya, his guardian, Tsunade, his parents' caretakers, Kakashi, the police officer investigating his parents' case, and Kurenai. "What do you mean 'an incentive'?" he asked.

Kabuto stared at the boy long enough that Naruto tore his gaze from the pictures to look the older man in the eyes. "If you do not cooperate, and not half-heartedly, either," he stressed, "Orochimaru will send someone out to kill them, one by one, until you do."

Naruto felt his throat tighten. '_Kill_'? But…they couldn't do something like that and get away with it, could they? _Who am I kidding_, Naruto berated himself, _this is Orochimaru we're talking about. He could probably do it easily._

Kabuto saw the truth of the situation sink in by the boy's expression and he crouched, picking up the pictures and putting them back in the envelope. "I'll leave these on your dresser," he said. "Think of them during your first test and use those thoughts to drive you. You have to succeed if you want don't want them to suffer for it."

Naruto merely stared at his hands in his lap, tracing the deep wire cuts on his wrists and hands with his eyes. He didn't want to kill anyone.

Kabuto held out his hand to help the boy up. "Let's go," he said.

Naruto looked at the proffered hand. But he didn't want his precious people to die because of him, either. He reached up…

And took Kabuto's hand.

**Ah, another short chapter. I have been trying so hard to avoid these. Unfortunately, it seems pretty much inevitable since the next chapter _should _be a really long one. I hope I did okay with descriptions so no one got lost! Next chapter is a time skip! No more child!Naruto. Excited?**

**Please continue to stick with me! I love reviews, by the way. I am oh so disappointed when I don't get any, especially when I see how much traffic my story gets...Please REVIEW! I will love you forever!**

**~Rider~**


	10. Of New Developments

**BEFORE I BEGIN, I would like to answer a question by an anonymous reviewer calling him/herself '_Guest_.' She/He asked: "Naruto is strong willed and defiant, so why would he take the hand of his parents murderer?" Now, I may be wrong, but I feel that Naruto's sense of loyalty to those close to him overrules everything else. Am I the only one who feels that he would do anything, no matter what it was, for those precious to him? I apologize if I am and have taken too many liberties with Naruto's character. Sorry about that! On to the story!**

**Chapter Nine**

_MAYOR'S GRANDSON KIDNAPPED by: Guren Shotan_

_Konohamaru Sarutobi, age twelve, grandson  
_ _of Mayor Hiruzen Sarutobi, was kidnapped_  
_last afternoon from his own home, his mother_  
_claims. The boy had reportedly been playing  
in his backyard with two of his friends when_  
_screeching tires, slamming doors, and the_  
_revving of an engine was heard. "It happened  
so fast," says Udon, friend of the victim, "we_  
_didn't even see who took him. We didn't pay_  
_attention 'cause we were making sand castles,"_  
_the boy says as he breaks down into tears. The_  
_'we' he mentions refers to himself and the_  
_victim's other friend, Moegi._  
_Chief of Police Asuma Sarutobi was the first to  
arrive on-scene to investigate the disappearance  
_ _of his nephew. He commented that this case is_  
_reminiscent to that of one almost five years ago_  
_now: the case of Naruto Uzumaki, also twelve_  
_at his abduction. There seems to be some hope_  
_for this case, however, and Chief of Police_  
_Sarutobi seems to believe that there will be a_  
_ransom in this particular kidnapping.  
"Either that," he says, "or he will be used as a  
political_ _pull in this year's elections. I'm inclined to  
believe,_ _however, that there will be a ransom in the  
near_ _future."_  
_With this devastating case, we can only hope that_  
_Konohamaru Sarutobi's investigation will not have_  
_the same outcome as the Naruto Uzumaki kidnapping._

Officer Kakashi Hatake slapped the newspaper down on his desk and scrubbed a hand over his eyes with a sigh. It was bad enough that the mayor's grandson was missing but now the press was pointing out one of the KPD's biggest embarrassments: having never found Naruto Uzumaki after his abduction.

He looked up as his door slammed open. Because of Asuma's personal involvement in the case, Kakashi had been nominated as the temporary Chief of Police, at least where Konohamaru was concerned. Since crime lately had been rather slow, that meant that Asuma was hardly around, meaning that Kakashi would be the acting Chief of Police until the case was solved and would be taking on all of his work – and his office – until then.

Kakashi nodded his head in greeting at the four newcomers. "Sasuke, Kiba, Shikamaru, Sakura," he addressed each of them. "Do you have them?"

"Hn," Sasuke said, holding up his Konoha Police Academy diploma. The other two males did the same.

"Got it, Kakashi," Sakura said, holding up her medical diploma. She didn't have the desire to be a cop like her three companions, but she did want to help. Kakashi said she could do that by becoming a nurse in record time – which she did, thanks to studying under Tsunade, the best doctor in Konoha – and aiding the boys in their up-coming investigation.

"Good," Kakashi nodded, "because you're about to get a debriefing on your first case."

"Really?" Kiba asked incredulously. They had _literally_ just come from each of their respective graduation ceremonies. Not that he was complaining, it just meant that he and Akamaru, his loyal pet that had underwent police canine training, would get to see some action real soon.

"Yes," Kakashi said. "Are you up for it?"

"Cha! Of course we are, Kakashi!" Sakura replied, her fist held in front of her in determination.

"Hn."

"What a drag…"

"Duh!" Kiba said. He knew Akamaru would have barked with enthusiasm if he were here.

"This won't be easy," Kakashi said. "I assume you saw the news this morning?" The other occupants of the room nodded their heads. "Good. Shut the door," he ordered.

Sasuke moved to do as told and closed the door behind him. Kakashi inclined his head in thanks and then motioned with his hand for the four twenty-year-olds to take a seat. Once they were settled, Kakashi continued. "We have reason to believe from an inside source that Konohamaru was kidnapped by Orochimaru."

Sasuke narrowed his eyes but said nothing further. Shikamaru just remained silent, as per usual, while Kiba let out a very animalistic growl. Sakura just stared, processing the information. Though the police had never proved it, they believed that it was Orochimaru that had taken – and possibly killed – their friend, Naruto. They would always have a special hatred for the Snake.

"We expect a ransom," Kakashi continued, "but we would like to take this chance to bring Orochimaru down in the meantime, once and for all."

"How?" Sasuke asked immediately. Kakashi had known that the young man would immediately jump on that.

"By infiltrating his organization," Kakashi answered. At the blank stares of the others, he explained: "Orochimaru runs a big operation. Needless to say, he loses many members – whether from gang wars, drugs, imprisonment, police execution, it doesn't matter. What matters is that he has to replace those members."

"And how are _we_ supposed to be recruited?" Sakura asked skeptically.

"It will take two steps. First, I will have to erase all records that the four of you ever existed. That means birth records, school records, _graduation _records, etcetera. The second step will actually be done by Orochimaru himself."

"Orochimaru is going to help us infiltrate his own gang?" Kiba asked, disbelieving.

Kakashi smiled. "No," he said, "but he has to replace a large number of people, does he not?" He plowed on without waiting for an answer: "Once a year, he holds a mass recruitment at one of his warehouses. Because of our mole, we know exactly where and when it will take place. And I plan to have the four of you join."

"Why us?" Sasuke asked slowly. He wanted to take this job, so he wasn't really sure he wanted to ask but felt the need to anyway. "Wouldn't it be smarter to use more seasoned officers?" After all, they had just gotten their diplomas a few hours ago. And Sakura wasn't even a cop!

"It would," Kakashi agreed, "except we need people who are unknown in the underground. All of the officers we have now would be recognized immediately. You four, however, would have no such issue."

"Okay," Shikamaru finally piped up, "say that we do infiltrate Orochimaru's ranks. What are we supposed to do then? I doubt that we would just be allowed to be near Konohamaru."

"True," Kakashi said. "We have a mole in the organization. He already has orders to assist you in any way he can. He believes that he can help you to climb the ranks fairly quickly, but not too fast as to draw suspicion. He's also in charge of assigning rooms – apparently Orochimaru likes to keep his subordinates close in order to monitor them and protect his business – so he can get you near the child, at the very least."

"Can I take Akamaru with me?" Kiba asked, unsurprisingly.

"I don't see why not," Kakashi replied, "it may even get you on guard duty, which would be a big help. You could patrol Orochimaru's hideout and figure out the layout of the place. It would be good to have multiple escape routes planned."

Shikamaru nodded his head thoughtfully in agreement. "Wouldn't Orochimaru be suspicious about such a well trained hound?"

"Maybe, maybe not," Kakashi shrugged. "According to our mole, there are quite a few guard dogs running around the place." Kiba seemed satisfied by this answer but Kakashi felt the need to point out one more thing. "It will be dangerous," he said seriously. "You will be around a lot of fugitives and hardened criminals. You will have to commit heinous crimes – which you will be pardoned for in light of the job," Kakashi pointed out quickly at the look on Sakura's face. "You must be fully committed to this. If you aren't, you will put the rest of the team in danger," he said, looking at each of the room's occupants in turn. "Do you understand?"

Sasuke immediately nodded with no hesitation at all. He was determined to ruin the bastard Snake for what he did. Shikamaru shrugged his shoulders and muttered 'troublesome,' as good an acquiescence as he would ever give, and Kiba bared his teeth in determination. Sakura hesitated a moment to think about what she was about to do. If she turned back now, she could get a nice, quiet position at the hospital. She looked at her companions. But they would then be stuck in Orochimaru's grasp, all alone, without someone to care for them. And Naruto…she had vowed just as fervently as Sasuke that she would help avenge her friend. She nodded solemnly.

"Excellent," Kakashi said approvingly. "I thought you would all agree so I have already taken the liberty of erasing your identities." He received a few glares at this. "To make things less confusing, I have allowed each of you to keep your given names but I have changed your family names." He handed each of them a file, which they opened immediately to look at their new identities and life stories. They would have to quickly memorize everything on those pages; they couldn't take them with them. "Pull out the last page so I can give you a run-down on the way Orochimaru's organization works." They did as they were told.

"Jinchuuriki…" Sasuke murmured.

"Ah, yes," Kakashi said. "Gai said he accidentally mentioned that to you at Kakuzu's interrogation."

"Are you actually going to tell me what it is now?"

"Yes," Kakashi said, "but I'll get to that in a bit."

Sasuke glared.

Kakashi ignored him. "The main things you need to know are ranks," he began explaining. "During recruitment, you will be ranked as Academy level. You will be given a task and asked to prove your loyalty and why you want to join. Our mole will contact you before then and will be passing you through that without a hassle so don't dwell on that too much," Kakashi assured. "After you pass academy level, you will be known as Genin. You may or may not get higher than that. Don't worry if you don't, just make sure you focus on the task at hand.

"After Genin is Chuunin, then Jounin. The Jounin is the highest level that you can reach, besides Orochimaru. You will probably never get that far. That rank is reserved for Orochimaru's most trusted and accomplished. It takes _years_ to get to that level, so don't worry about that, either. What you need to worry about the most are the Jinchuuriki," he stressed. "There are only nine Jinchuuriki at any given point in time. We assume that Orochimaru does this in order to keep them under control." He paused gathering his thoughts.

"What the hell are they?" Sasuke demanded impatiently.

"Give him a chance to explain, Uchiha," Shikamaru drawled, earning the famous Death Glare from Sasuke.

"Boys, boys," Kakashi said good-naturedly. "If you fight amongst yourselves, you're going to have problems working as a team when you infiltrate Orochimaru's hideout," he chided.

Both males returned their attention to Kakashi silently, who nodded his approval.

"Jinchuurikis are Orochimaru's assassins." He got a few widened eyes at that statement. "They are usually volunteers and the positions are reserved for the strongest, most loyal, and hardest criminals in Orochimaru's clutches. They are very dangerous; you must watch out for them at all times. They see more than most other people, because that is what they are trained to do." He paused and stared each of them down. "Do _not_ engage them, do not interact with them, and always be aware of where they are, but not obviously so. You will not make it out alive if you do not heed this warning."

Sakura's eyes widened and Kiba gulped before asking: "What are we supposed to do if something like that _does_ happen?"

"Nothing," Kakashi replied, "you'll be dead."

Shikamaru looked for any signs of deception in Kakashi's words. Perhaps the man was merely trying to scare them into being overly cautious about this since it was their first operation. He could find no such deception.

"How do we know who they are?" Sasuke asked.

"You ought to be able to tell by their presence alone," Kakashi said, "but they are also identified by rank. There are nine Jinchuuriki, nine levels of skill. They are ranked by 'Tails.' The One-Tail is supposedly the weakest, and the Nine-Tails , the strongest. We have a theory, though, that the One-Tail is actually on equal grounds with the Nine-Tails, since whoever holds that rank must keep it from potential usurpers."

"What do you mean?" Kiba asked.

"To become a Jinchuuriki, a candidate must fight the Jinchuuriki to determine if he or she has a place among its ranks. The One-Tail has to fight all candidates, whereas the higher Tails don't usually have to fight any. Of course, the Nine-Tails is the most coveted rank, so other Jinchuuriki challenge him in order to try and take that rank away and become the new Nine-Tails. The Nine-Tails will then become either the Tail who beat him or will be executed if he acquires too many Marks. Of course, it works with any other Jinchuuriki as well, not just with the Nine-Tails."

"What's a Mark?" Sakura asked.

"Jinchuuriki are 'Marked' on their shoulders with the rank in which they obtain. Let's say a candidate tests in as the Three-Tails. He would then get a tattoo on both shoulders with the symbol of his rank. As he changes rank, whether up or down, he gets another Mark underneath each tattoo to represent his new rank. When the Marks reach his hands, Orochimaru deems that Jinchuuriki as useless, since he is unsuccessful in holding his rank, and executes him."

"What happens to a Tail when a candidate tests in?" Shikamaru asked.

"Let's keep the example of the candidate testing in as the Three-Tails," Kakashi said. "This means that the candidate beat the One-Tail, Two-Tails, and Three-Tails, but lost to the Four-Tails. The Four-Tails keeps his rank and the candidate becomes the Three-Tails. Assuming that the candidate did not kill the Three-Tails, the other three Jinchuuriki then have to fight each other to determine who remains as Jinchuurikis. Since there are only two Tails to fight for, it becomes a battle to the death. Whoever dies is no longer a Jinchuuriki, obviously. The other two then have to fight to figure out who will become the One-Tail and who will be the Two-Tails. Since Orochimaru likes to maintain nine Jinchuuriki, the last two remaining are forbidden from killing each other."

"Do we know any of these Jinchuuriki?" Sasuke asked.

"No," Kakashi said. "They remain masked and cover most – if not all – traces of skin when they have a hit. We only know of the names that Orochimaru attaches to each Jinchuuriki. You have the list in your folders that I gave you."

Kakashi gave them a moment to view the list while he examined his own:

_One-Tail: Ichibi no Shukaku (AKA Shukaku); Mask design – Raccoon Two-Tails: Yibi no Nekomata (AKA Yibi); Mask design – Cat Three-Tails: Sanbi no Kyodaigame (AKA Sanbi); Mask design – Turtle Four-Tails: Yonbi no Saru (AKA Saru); Mask design – Gorilla Five-Tails: Gobi no Irukauma (AKA Gobi); Mask design – Dolphin/Horse Six-Tails: Rokubi no Namekuji (AKA Rokubi); Mask design – Slug Seven-Tails: Nanabi no Kabutomushi (AKA Nanabi); Mask design – Beetle Eight-Tails: Hachibi no Kyogyu (AKA Hachibi); Mask design – Ox/Octopus Nine-Tails: Kyuubi no Kitsune (AKA Kyuubi); Mask design – Fox_

He looked up from his list, having already read it before, and waited until the others had finished. When they did, he asked: "Any questions?" He received none. "No? Good. Now, we know that Orochimaru likes to keep nine Jinchuuriki – he also likes to refer to them as the Nine, by the way – but we have seen no evidence of the Nine-Tails since the previous one was executed."

"How do you know he was executed?" Sakura asked.

"We found his body a few years ago. The last Mark on his hands had been the Nine-Tails Mark."

"What does it look like?" Sasuke asked. It would certainly be helpful to know what to look for.

"It looks sort of like a spiral within a crooked eye," Kakashi replied. "The others in order from the One-Tail to the Eight-Tails are: an hour glass with a halo-like symbol above it, an off-set 'H' with an oval to the left, four diagonal wavy lines like rain, an image of two mountain-like shapes stacked next to each other, two diamonds linked together, four parallel vertical lines, a broken arrow pointing down, and three oval rings linked together." He looked up from the list of information given to him by the mole. "Did you get all that?"

"Hn."

"Good," Kakashi said, standing from his chair. "It's time to get you dressed like proper criminals. I imagine at least Sasuke will need a new wardrobe," he teased, referring to how the boy is always impeccably dressed. "Go home, get any necessary belongings you may need, nothing more. Kiba, pick up Akamaru. Remove all of his tags so they cannot be traced. I've already had his microchip deactivated. This will be the last time we meet in person – especially here at the station – until this investigation is over. If you need to contact me, do it through the mole. As I said before, he will reveal himself to you for your Academy-to-Genin testing. Good luck and be safe," he concluded, holding the door for them to exit. He prayed that the next time he saw them wasn't at the morgue.

**...**

"Hey, break it up! Break it up!"

Several prison guards ran towards the huddled group of convicts, preparing to rip them off of their victim.

"Stop!" the man on the ground yelled. "I have information!"

"Oh, yeah?" Hidan sneered. "And what would we do with information in a _fucking prison_?"

"I have…information…for Oro – for the boss!" Kimimaro huffed out between pained breaths. Shit, his ribs were probably broken.

"Spill," Kakuzu demanded, holding the man by the collar of his shirt, with Kimimaro's knees still planted on the ground. Around them, prison inmates cheered. It had been a while since they had had some excitement.

"N-no," he stuttered out. "The information is for the boss only!"

"Kakuzu," Hidan whined, "just let me kill him already. The guards are coming!"

"Not yet," Kakuzu said before returning his attention back to Kimimaro. "What information is so important that we shouldn't kill you right now? After all," he said menacingly, "you put us in fucking prison for _ten years_. Seems pretty damn convenient that now, when you're being released in _less than a week_, you say you supposedly have information."

"I swear! I have information," Kimimaro said desperately. There was a rat among Orochimaru's ranks, an informant, someone who could be the start of a domino effect in Orochimaru's downfall. He had to tell the Snake.

"I call bullshit," Hidan said. "Just hurry up, Kakuzu, the guards are almost through the crowd."

"Last chance," Kakuzu called to Kimimaro.

"I – I…If I tell you, you'll just kill me anyway!"

"If your information is good enough, maybe I won't," Kakuzu replied unconvincingly.

"There's – there's a spy! In the gang," he stressed. "I have to tell boss."

"Why should we believe that?" Hidan asked. "Why hold onto that information for five years?"

"L-leverage," Kimimaro replied shakily.

"So who's this spy?" Kakuzu asked.

"I…don't know," Kimimaro admitted reluctantly.

"Wrong answer," Hidan replied, thrusting his homemade shiv into Kimimaro's gut and twisting it. Kakuzu dropped the bleeding, dying man and retreated from the crowd, away from the guards, with Hidan following close behind.

The truth of Kimimaro's words would die with him.

**...**

He saw the boy come in and instantly recognized him, though they had never met. He had seen pictures of the child on more than one occasion when he had set up a prank in the mayor's office: Konohamaru.

Naruto sat on the floor in his 'rightful' place next to Orochimaru, his back leaning against the criminal under lord's chair and had to crane his head to see properly. As the Nine-Tails Jinchuuriki, he was Orochimaru's main guard when he wasn't out doing hits. The Eight-Tails, Hachibi, replaced him when he was. The two had a sort-of companionship. Jinchuurikis didn't have friends or 'precious people.'

Konohamaru was being dragged in by one of Orochimaru's more aggressive goons. Naruto couldn't place a name to the face. As long as he recognized a face, they were allowed near Orochimaru, unless the man said otherwise.

"Ah, Zetsu," Orochimaru cooed, "you did very well, indeed."

"Why thank you, Lord Orochimaru," Zetsu replied, knowing the man liked the term.

Orochimaru stood from his chair, motioning lazily with his hand for Naruto to remain where he was. He approached Konohamaru and crouched down to eye level. The boy stared at the floor and refused to look at him. "Hello, child," Orochimaru purred. He put a finger under Konohamaru's chin and gently lifted the boy's face. "I promise to take good care of you while you are here," he said with a smirk before stepping back. Konohamaru glared weakly. "Zetsu," Orochimaru addressed the man holding Konohamaru by the back of the neck, "take him to his room. Have him stay with – " Orochimaru paused, thinking, " – Gobi." _Gobi_, Naruto thought, _the Five-Tails_. His eyes narrowed. That man was known for his brutality. What was Orochimaru up to?

"Yes, sir," Zetsu replied, dragging the boy with him to a hallway at the back of the large room. Orochimaru used it as his conference room when he needed to meet with his Jinchuuriki and Jounin. Of course, at the very back of the room, the Snake had a chair set up that was fashioned much like a throne. Naruto was positioned in such a way that he could see all around the room while still boast of Orochimaru's power and control over the Nine with his submissive positioning.

Naruto watched the two leave the room before returning his attention to staring into space ahead of himself. This way, he didn't have to focus on one thing in particular; he could hear anyone approaching the room. His ears were trained to be hyper sensitive and the drugs that Orochimaru had used on him a few years ago heightened his senses even more. As a side-effect of one of the experimental drugs used in an attempt to enhance his eye sight, his eyes had been altered from their original color. Instead of a solid azure blue, his irises were now rimmed with red that bled out halfway towards the pupil. There were flecks of red here and there inside the remaining blue surface area.

Orochimaru returned to his seat. Before long, the men whom he had a meeting with finally arrived and took their seats at a long table in the center of the room. The end was left open to include Orochimaru and his throne. Naruto scanned all of the faces and determined that every person present had clearance to be in the meeting. Orochimaru noticed as well. "You may leave us, Kyuubi," he said. He took great pleasure in reminding both Naruto and his Jounin that he had complete control over the Nine-Tails Jinchuuriki.

Naruto stood up quietly, bowed his head slightly to Orochimaru in deference, and left the room as silently as a ghost. He heard Orochimaru begin to address the reason for the meeting, which Naruto assumed would be Konohamaru's presence, before he closed the door behind him without a sound.

Turning swiftly on his heel, he headed towards the elevator that would take him to level two, the Jinchuuriki's living quarters. One of the levels he had hoped to gain access to in an attempt to escape five years ago. He was grateful that he had never managed to find a way to get there; the Nine would have ripped him apart without a second thought.

Once in the elevator, he pressed the '2' button – since most of the levels were underground, the level numbers were higher at the bottom and lower at the top. One could only get out on the first floor; the only above-ground floor – and, as expected, the doors slid closed but the elevator didn't move. "Please scan retina," a female automated voice came over the speakers above his head. Naruto placed his eye before a small retinal scan above the elevator controls and held completely still until the scan was completed. "Identity: Kyuubi no Kitsune, Nine-Tails Jinchuuriki. Thank you for your patience," the voice intoned. The elevator began to climb until it arrived at the second floor and Naruto stepped out.

His steps were swift and his stride long as he made his way down the extended hallway. It was a large area, the second largest in the building. It held nine rooms to accommodate the nine Jinchuuriki. The only floor bigger than this one was the top floor, which was Orochimaru's living quarters and 'office.'

Naruto stopped when he reached a door towards the middle with a large metal '5' that hung above the peep hole. He reached up and knocked nine times to announce who he was. Since only Jinchuuriki, Orochimaru, and Kabuto were allowed on this level without supervision, each Jinchuuriki knocked the amount of times with accordance to their rank. Orochimaru and Kabuto had override card keys to every room and had no need to knock.

Naruto stepped back when he heard grumbling from inside the room and watched as the door swung open. Before the man could react, Naruto shoved him aside and strode into the space quickly. He got halfway through the living room when he stumbled across what he had been looking for: Konohamaru huddled in the corner, holding his knees with his head resting on them. He looked terrified out of his mind.

Five-Tails, or Gobi – Jinchuuriki never revealed their true names; Orochimaru kept them a secret in order to keep their identities a secret from anyone but himself. He said it made the organization safer if there were merely nameless faces working for him – lunged at him from behind, furious that Naruto would have the gall to invade on his space. Naruto saw it coming, however, and spun around, grabbing the man's arm, and using momentum to redirect his charge into the wall. The man's face hit dead-on and Naruto scowled at the man. It was a wonder he could maintain his Five-Tails status. Perhaps the other Jinchuuriki just didn't want to risk getting another Mark. Naruto had no such issues; in the four years that he had been a Jinchuuriki, he had never once changed rank.

Naruto heard a sniffing sound and turned his attention back to Konohamaru. The boy was in the same spot, but he had lifted his head to witness the commotion. Naruto could see a red mark on the boy's cheek and knew it was going to turn into a bruise. He almost felt a spark of anger at Gobi for harming the poor child – _almost_. He hadn't felt any real type of emotion in years; Orochimaru had made sure of that. Apparently, though, he still had a small amount of conscience.

He held out his hand. "Come," he ordered. He was used to the obedience that came with being a Jinchuuriki. "You'll be staying with me." His voice remained flat.

"W-why?" Konohamaru sniffed, wiping his face on his sleeve.

"Do you want to stay with him?" Naruto asked blandly, already knowing the answer as he indicated the unconscious man on the floor.

Predictably, Konohamaru shook his head before reaching up, his hand shaking. Naruto grabbed it and pulled the boy to his feet before releasing him and turning on his heel. He strode out of the room and turned towards his own room, knowing the mayor's grandson would follow.

"Why are you helping me?" the boy murmured fearfully. He was in an unfamiliar place with bad people and all he wanted was to go home.

"You remind me of myself," was Naruto's simple answer.

Konohamaru looked up at him. "What's your name?" he asked hesitantly.

Naruto looked down at him through his long bangs. He had let his hair grow out lately. It now hung in heavy locks around his face to just past his chin; pieces still stuck out wildly as it did when he was a child. His mouth almost twitched at the thought. In most places, seventeen is probably still considered a child. That wasn't the case with regards to a gang, especially one such as Orochimaru's. "Kyuubi," he finally replied.

"Kyuubi?" Konohamaru tested the word. "Are you a Jinchuuriki, too?"

"Yes."

"Then, your real name isn't Kyuubi," Konohamaru stated, remembering a conversation he had overheard a long time ago when he had stayed with his grandfather; his uncle Asuma had mentioned it to the old man. "What's your real name?"

Naruto stopped walking and turned his gaze on the door in front of him labeled with a '9.' He keyed in the password, being sure to block it from view of the boy as well as the surveillance cameras at each ends of the hallway. He trusted no one in this godforsaken place. Except maybe Shukaku, the One-Tail Jinchuuriki. The two of them had gotten fairly close after having to go through the Jinchuuriki trials together as candidates. But they weren't friends, of course…

"My name is Kyuubi," Naruto reiterated.

Konohamaru seemed to be a bit more relaxed around Naruto and smiled up at the older male. "You're a lot nicer than anyone else I've met so far. Are you sure you're really a Jinchuuriki?" he asked innocently.

Naruto glanced at the boy as he opened the door, allowing Konohamaru to enter first before following him in. The Jinchuuriki then habitually walked the perimeter of his spacious living quarters to check for threats. There were two bathrooms, a kitchen, living room, and six bedrooms in case of too many hostages at one time. Each bedroom had a nightstand with a reading light, a good-sized closet, a queen sized bed, and a comfortable arm chair. An iron weapons closet was built into the wall straight down the hallway from the entrance; the only way to open it was with a retina scan, much like with the elevator, except this one only worked for Naruto and Orochimaru. The Snake certainly spoiled the Nine-Tails Jinchuuriki; the room was the biggest and most luxurious, besides his own.

Satisfied, Naruto returned his attention to Konohamaru. "Yes," he responded eventually. "My rank is Nine-Tails."

Konohamaru's eyes widened. Wasn't the Nine-Tails the strongest of all…?

The boy still looked skeptical so Naruto sighed and pulled up the sleeve of the black hoodie he had been wearing to reveal one of the two matching tattoos he had on each arm. He saw when Konohamaru's eyes alighted in recognition of the Kyuubi no Kitsune's symbol. It seemed the boy knew more than he ought to about the goings-on in Orochimaru's ranks.

"Pick a room," Naruto said. "Leave the last room on the right; that one is mine."

Konohamaru nodded and went in search of one. He finally opted to inhabit the one directly across from Naruto's. He really didn't have any unpacking to do since his kidnappers weren't exactly going to wait long enough for him to grab anything. Besides, Zetsu or whatever his name was had said that Orochimaru would provide him with some things that he would need. "No TV?" he asked innocently.

"No," Naruto replied monotonously. "None of the Jinchuuriki are in their rooms enough for television. You will have to wait until you go to the building's eating area. There is one there for Orochimaru's members to keep up on current events."

"I'm going to be bored, aren't I?"

"Yes," Naruto replied.

Konohamaru looked down at his feet. "Am I going to get to go home?"

Naruto balked. This boy was so much like he used to be… "Yes," he replied with certainty. "You are too valuable for Orochimaru to keep and not ransom."

Konohamaru's eyes widened. "You know me?" he asked.

"Not personally," Naruto replied. "You're the mayor's grandson; it's kind of hard not to know _of _you."

"Oh," Konohamaru said, disappointed. He had hoped that he would have a friend in this place.

"Get some sleep," Naruto commanded. "I'll have Temari and Kankuro come get you later to eat," he said, referring to Shukaku's siblings. The two of them had followed their brother to Orochimaru's gang when the older male had been kicked out of his parents' home for violence and decided to become a Jinchuuriki candidate. He had been abused by his parents and wanted the confidence and strength to take his revenge. He had succeeded; they were now six feet under.

"Where are you going?" Konohamaru asked quickly, afraid to be left alone.

"On a job," Naruto said as he lifted his hoodie over his head. He walked to the weapons closet and allowed the machine to scan his retina. There was a click of a lock and he grabbed the handle and pulled the heavy door open. He heard Konohamaru's gasp from behind him at the sight of the multitude of weapons. He opted to keep his tight black sleeveless muscle shirt on since it breathed well, as well as his boots. They were black leather, came to mid-calf, and were special made with buckles on the outsides of his legs. A sheath was made directly into them beneath the buckles on each boot that holstered two medium-sized knives. He pulled these out of the weapons closet and sheathed them immediately. Next, he pulled out his gloved, black leather arm guards. These, too, had buckles for the tops of his forearms, but the intention of those was merely for adjusting size. The fingerless leather glove attachments were made to keep his hands from slipping from sweat on whatever weapon he was using. Next came his Glock .9mm pistol that he concealed at the small of his back after checking that the safety was on and it was properly loaded. He grabbed an extra ammunition clip just in case and stuffed it into the back pocket of his fitting black jeans. After, he grabbed his long black leather trench coat and pulled it on, leaving the front open for better maneuvering. He reached back into the weapons closet and brought out his two custom, full-length katana. The hilts were all black but when he unsheathed the blades, there was a beautiful, artistic design of a nine-tailed fox with malicious, glowing red eyes. The head began at the end of the blade, the tail ending at the hilt, so that it looked like blood dripped from its fangs when Naruto made a kill. He crossed them and lashed them to his back over his coat for easy access. Lastly, he pulled out his white mask with a red fox face outline printed on the front and put it on, pulling the hood of his trench coat up to cover his shockingly blonde hair. The only thing his hit ever saw was the strange, ghostly glow of his mask in the dark.

Naruto closed the weapons closet and re-locked it before turning to face Konohamaru and the exit. He could see fear flash in the boy's eyes and felt a sense of satisfaction. The boy shouldn't put such blind faith in him or assume that he was a good person; he had murdered too many people for such innocent sentiments to be directed towards him. Konohamaru would soon learn that Naruto was not one to be trusted and that he should keep his distance. Unfortunately, Naruto didn't think that that would be the case. The two were too alike at that age, too compatible.

"Kyuubi…"

Naruto stopped but didn't turn back to address Konohamaru.

"That man may make you do bad things," he began hesitantly, "but…I know that you aren't a bad person. I can just...feel it."

Naruto didn't reply. Instead, he stepped out onto the Jinchuuriki floor and closed his door behind him, locking it from the outside to prevent Konohamaru from escaping. Temari and Kankuro would be by soon to take the boy to eat and they had his password. Them, and Gaara – or Shukaku, as he was known to most others. Since they had known each other before becoming Jinchuurikis, he knew of the boy's name and past and Gaara knew of Naruto's. It just made them even closer. And, regrettably, he trusted the older man and his siblings. A fact that he had to hide from Orochimaru.

The elevator doors opened in front of him and he stepped in, pressing the button for '1' (a retina scan was not required for a Jinchuuriki to leave the second floor for the first; a finger scan was done instead, as Naruto let his finger hesitate over the button), and preparing to leave the building in search of his new target.

**This was my longest chapter yet! Woo-hoo! **

***Ahem* Anyway...did anyone get lost with the Jinchuuriki explanation? I hope not. If you have questions, please review and ask! I will be glad to answer them.**

**On another note, I'm sorry for the amount of time since I last posted a chapter. Unfortunately, my great grandma is in the hospital right now and things don't look good. This may be my last chapter for a little while because most of my time is spent elsewhere. I've also been job-hunting and my college classes just started up yesterday. Updates will be fewer and farther in between but I hope to still be able to update semi-regularly. Perhaps when things are a little less uncertain with my grandmother...**

**Anyway, please review. Reviews make my day and I certainly need some good feelings in my life right now...**

**~Rider~**


	11. Infiltration

**A NOTE TO ANONYMOUS REVIEWER, 'GUEST': I think in certain situations, Naruto would go along with his enemies in order to protect those around him if he didn't have a means to get out of the predicament. In this case, there wasn't a way for him to escape and even if he did, his precious people could still be in danger because of Orochimaru. As a child with no street experience, Naruto would not be capable of protecting them against an entire gang of criminals and assassins. As for Sakura, she is necessary. Hopefully you'll see her usefulness later on. While she is not my first choice for the role, she is the most qualified.**

**Chapter Ten**

Akamaru growled in warning.

"I know, buddy, I know," Kiba murmured soothingly. He felt just as uncomfortable around so many criminals as his canine friend. "Hey," he said, addressing the companions in his group quietly, "do you think this was really such a good idea?"

Shikamaru glanced cautiously at him before turning away again. It wouldn't do good to look too friendly with someone he was supposed to have just met. "No," he replied honestly, also in hushed tones, "I don't. But we don't have much of a choice if we want to take this organization down."

"Guys," Sakura butt in, "do you really think we should be talking about this out in the open?"

Sasuke gave the other three a pointed look. "No, we shouldn't," he said, "and we really shouldn't be seen together right now. Let's split up and scout the place out, see if our contact shows up. We'll meet up later when this recruitment meeting gets moving and make it look like chance."

The other three nodded their agreement and moved to do as told. Kiba went to scout out potential escape routes, Shikamaru to observe the general layout of the place and study the types of people who show up, and Sakura followed Sasuke at a respectable distance as he went in search of someone who might look like their contact or someone who would be willing to talk about all things Orochimaru. Sakura wasn't an officer like Sasuke or the other two so she didn't have the formal training needed in a situation like this. Staying close to one of the other three for protection had been what Shikamaru deemed the safest bet, so that was what she would do.

**…**

It was a good hour and a half into the 'infiltration,' and Sakura was bored. There hadn't been any excitement, no sign of Orochimaru or their contact, and absolutely no instructions as to what to do to become a Genin.

She glanced about ten feet over to her left to check that Sasuke was still standing there, three guys over. Reassured, she allowed herself to study him under the pretense of observing the room and its occupants. The 'room' she referred to was actually a large equipment holding facility usually used for large tractors and combines before they were sold to the public.

Sakura glanced away for a moment and pretended to look at the rest of the room before again returning her gaze to Sasuke out of the corner of her eye. The young man had certainly grown up. He had always been a lean boy with lots of muscle and no fat but the training at the Konoha Police Academy had really filled him out. His arms were strong, his stomach flat beneath his black t-shirt; the plain blue jeans that he wore hugged his hips perfectly and fit to his strong thighs to show the muscle there. His tennis shoes were nothing to look at…

She moved her gaze back up to his face. His dark, almost obsidian, eyes were hard and determined. Years ago, when he had had a certain blonde friend, there had been a spark of – dare she say? – merriment in them that had never been present before. Sakura supposed that it was because he had never gotten the affection from his parents that he needed or deserved. When Naruto came along, he seemed to give him all that he needed – and more. Naruto had been his light, his happiness, whether Sasuke wanted to admit it or not. And when he disappeared, Sasuke had withdrawn even more than he had been before their blonde friend had come along. It only got worse when his parents divorced and moved to different countries, leaving Itachi and Sasuke alone in that big mansion. Except, Itachi was hardly ever around since he had to work and tend to the orphaned kids he cared for. The older Uchiha had even gotten a separate home since the children's facility he had opened up was so far from Konoha.

Shaking off the pitying thoughts and feeling slightly regretful, knowing Sasuke would not appreciate it, she returned her attention to the physical aspects of the twenty-year-old. His raven hair was long and framed his face handsomely, coming just past his chin. He still styled it in the same fashion as he had as a child, with the back spiked and flipped up. It still suited him perfectly and showed off his model-like features that every girl swooned at.

And yet…Sakura found that she was no longer one of them. Over time, between constant rejection from the boy and worry for her lost friend, her feelings for Sasuke had dwindled and died. Instead, she had decided to date a guy named Lee. Well, she hadn't exactly told him yet; she wanted to wait until after this investigation was over so as to not complicate things. He was always following her around and begging her for a date so – call her arrogant – she had no delusions of him finding someone else and forgetting about her. He would wait.

Sighing, she told herself that it wouldn't do to think those thoughts. She was Sakura Izumi right now, and she was a known pick-pocket and armed robber; she had no one she cared for. Sakura nearly snorted aloud at this. She had never – and would never – steal a tissue, much less the hundreds of thousands of dollars she had supposedly stolen. Well, if that was what it took to get into the gang and help her friends, she would do it. Even if it meant dying from boredom before the mission, as she liked to call it, even began.

**…**

"Yeah. Yeah, I see them. Yes, they match the description. Yeah, I'm heading over there now. I will. Later."

Haku flipped his cell closed and stared at the back of the dark-haired male's head suspiciously. To his left, he could see the girl from the description staring over at her companion. An amateur's mistake. The boy, however, was quite good. He never showed too much interest in something but didn't look so disinterested as to make him seem like an unfit candidate to move up from Academy to Genin.

He watched the two for a little while longer, making notes that the one who was apparently rather intelligent scoped out the warehouse. If Haku hadn't been looking for signs of it, he would never have noticed. Here was another one that knew what he was doing. Then there was the brunette with the odd triangular tattoos under his eyes and the large mutt at his side. Haku could just barely make out the kid's eyes scanning all points of exit inconspicuously. They were all certainly well trained. Except for the girl…

Steeling himself, he moved swiftly forward, moving for the most competent one within close range: the dark haired male in front of him. He approached cautiously, ready to attack swiftly if need be. If he were wrong, he was risking his life by doing this.

**…**

Sasuke felt more than heard someone approaching him from behind. He turned around fluidly, slowly enough to not provoke an immediate attack, but swift enough to stop one. Just as he did so, the one making his way towards Sasuke stopped. The boy – at least, Sasuke thought it was a boy – seemed to study him closely. Sasuke took in the stranger's features: long dark hair, dark green eyes, and a very feminine face. The hard look in the other's eyes made Sasuke decide that this person was indeed male.

The feminine boy continued the rest of the way to Sasuke, apparently sensing no immediate threat. He stopped beside the KPD agent and pretended to study his hands. Speaking quietly, he asked, "You are Sasuke?"

Sasuke gave a slight nod. It seemed he had finally found the mole.

"I have already taken care of the paperwork to bump the four of your statuses up to Genin. Each of you needs to hold onto one of these to prove your status." He handed four slips of paper to Sasuke who took them and quickly tucked them into his back jeans pocket. "Present them to the men at the door over there." He nodded to another set of doors at the other end of the warehouse that obviously led to another section. Sasuke could see six guards barring the way into the other area, save for a few stragglers here and there with similar pieces of paper. "I will meet you in there once I am finished with my work. Sit at a table with your other companions – it won't look suspicious with the amount of people present." With that, he turned on his heel and prepared to leave. Before he got two steps however, he turned back. "Oh. And do something about the girl; she's too jittery. She's going to get you all killed."

**…**

After Sasuke had given the signal to the others to meet up with him, he briefly explained his encounter with the mole and gave them each their own verification papers. They gave them to the guards and went through the large doorway separately as a precaution, a few minutes apart from each other. Once through, they found that there was a multitude of what Sasuke could only describe as cafeteria benches. The kind that could fold up to make more space and had round, attached seats so they didn't get moved or stolen. They chose one towards the back of the room and met up so they could watch everyone who entered, still see the front of the room, and could discuss all they had learned from their time in the warehouse so far. There was a stand that was obviously meant to be a podium, which Sasuke assumed would be used by either Orochimaru or one of his Jounin. Or maybe even a Jinchuuriki.

It took another hour of waiting before the doors to the holding area was closed off. The loud, resounding sound caused a hush to settle over the room. There hadn't been much talking to begin with, anyway, since no one there seemed to be acquainted.

A door on the opposite side of the now-closed doors opened and all eyes trained on one man: Orochimaru The Snake. Sasuke had tried not to disillusion himself into thinking that he would get a glimpse of the man so soon and yet here he was, in the warehouse, making his way over to the front of the room towards the podium. He was so engrossed in his rage – this man had taken his best friend from him – and determination – to take the bastard down – that he nearly missed the fact that there was a child walking fearfully behind Orochimaru and another man walking behind the boy, giving him rough nudges every now and then to keep him moving. Sasuke immediately recognized the boy as Konohamaru Sarutobi. Sakura, apparently, did as well, judging by the sharp intake of breath he heard from her. He gave her a withering look. Their contact was right: they needed to instruct Sakura on some things if they were going to make it through their first investigation.

His thoughts were interrupted as he caught a glimpse of a familiar figure making his way over towards their table. When he arrived, he took a seat among the four of them. When Akamaru didn't growl at the young man, Sasuke took that as a sign that at least the young man didn't seem to be a bad guy.

"I didn't get the chance to introduce myself before," the mole began, looking around casually to see if anyone was eavesdropping. Sasuke had picked a somewhat secluded spot, however, with no one seated at their table and it seemed safe to discuss matters. "I'm Haku," the young man said, finally resting his gaze on the four undercover agents in front of him.

"I take it you're the informant?" Kiba asked quietly. He was more at ease now that they had made contact with Haku. At least now they wouldn't be completely on their own. It helped that Akamaru seemed to like the guy.

"Yes," Haku affirmed. "I will help you as best I can with your investigation. Bear in mind, however, that I will not do anything to jeopardize my life, or the lives of those undeserving. Don't get yourself into something that can't easily be fixed with a signed paper or a few words with a higher-up."

"You are able to fix things in certain situations?" Sasuke asked.

"I have a pretty good reputation around here," Haku stated matter-of-factly. "I'm one of Orochimaru's most trusted Jounin."

"What?" Sakura exclaimed, too loudly. She received several harsh looks and immediately smiled apologetically, making a mental note to watch her tone in the future. "If you're a Jounin, then why are you helping us?"

"I never had much choice in the matter of becoming a member of Orochimaru's gang," he replied. "My parents died when I was a little kid and he took me in. I've had nothing to do but climb the ranks."

"You could have left," Shikamaru pointed out. "If you're a Jounin and are as trusted as you say, you could have gone out on the pretense of doing something for Orochimaru and just…never came back."

"First of all," Haku said, "it isn't that easy with Orochimaru. There are a lot more complicated processes to go through. Secondly, there is someone here I wish to protect. He has yet to see the benefit of leaving and until he does, I will not leave him."

There was a moment of silence among the group. It had been a while since they had seen that much compassion and devotedness. Not since their old friend, Naruto.

"All right," Sasuke said, ending the subject. "So you're our inside man. Start coaching."

Haku stared at Sasuke before turning his gaze to the others. "He isn't very skilled in socializing, is he?" It was more a statement, rather than a question.

He received a few strained smiles in response. They were too tense for any more of a reaction.

"All right," Haku began. "First, I'll give you the layout of Orochimaru's hideout. You should know, there is only one way in and one way out."

"What?" Shikamaru asked skeptically. "How can that be? According to Kakashi, Orochimaru keeps all of his subordinates close. How can he house so many people and only have one entryway?"

"Orochimaru built his hideout secretly. To do that, he had to first make a legitimate business. He bought some land in Sunagakure," – _Well, _Sasuke thought, _that explains why the police couldn't find him in Konohagakure_ – "away from any other businesses. His front is a law firm." Kiba snorted at this. Haku allowed a small smile before continuing. "After that was established, he began expanding – down. He only has the one floor – his office and living quarters – above ground. Actually, it is technically two floors. The upper floor is Orochimaru's living quarters while the lower, ground floor, is his 'office' and business firm. You can only get from one level to the other by stairs, however. To go underground, there is a hidden elevator in Orochimaru's private office that can only be activated on that floor by key card." Here, he paused and pulled out four cards, the same size and shape as a typical credit card, and handed one to each of the four companions. "Those will get you underground but it won't get you back out. Once you're in there, you're stuck unless you're going on a job for Orochimaru or you advance to Jounin level. Sometimes Chuunins are given special privileges but it isn't common."

"So…" Sakura swallowed. "So, once we go down, we don't come back up?"

"Not for a while, no," Haku answered. "Still want to do this?"

"Yes," Sasuke answered without pause. The others reluctantly followed suit. Kiba was up for an adventure but this was ridiculous! Shikamaru just thought this whole investigation was really getting to be troublesome. Sakura…well, she wasn't so sure she wanted to do this anymore.

"Okay," Haku began, "I'll arrange for you all to room together. The girl is a bit timid," he said, addressing the three males, "I suggest you keep her with one of you at all times. It isn't uncommon for a handful of guys to share a woman in the hideout since they are few and far between so it will go fairly unnoticed. You have to stake your claim early, however. The girl reeks of nerves and inexperience. The men will be all over her in an instant."

Sakura's jaw dropped. This guy was talking about her like she was just some property to be used! "You can't just – "

"We'll do that," Sasuke cut in, eyeing the pink-haired girl harshly. He was starting to rethink letting her come along. She was already at a disadvantage without any fighting and strategy training but now, apparently, just her gender would cause them problems.

Sakura glared. "Sasuke, I can take care of myself. I came here to help you guys, not be a burden."

"We'll discuss this later," Sasuke said firmly before returning his attention to Haku. "You can get us into any room?" he asked.

Haku hesitated. "Well, yes, I should be able to. Standard procedure states that you should stay on the Genin floor, however."

"No," Sasuke said. "We need to stay with the kid so we can keep an eye on him and give him instruction."

"I don't think that's a good idea," Haku began. "He is staying – "

"It doesn't matter," Sasuke said before Haku could turn him down. "That's exactly where we need to be."

Haku clenched his jaw, thinking. It would be a great risk if Orochimaru found out. But to think about _another_ innocent boy in that man's hands…If something happened to that child, he would never forgive himself. "Fine. I'll see what I can do."

Sasuke nodded his approval before turning his attention to the podium at the front of the room. It seemed that Orochimaru was finally ready to address his new recruits.

"Gentlemen, and criminals," the Snake began. A slow grin formed on his face. "I hope I have more of the latter," he said jokingly. Only a few were brave enough to laugh. "I would like to congratulate you on your success in passing the Academy exams," he said, almost genuinely.

Sasuke glanced away just long enough to catch Haku's parting nod and wave as he made his way back among the crowd, presumably to work on the group's room assignment. He returned his attention to Orochimaru.

"Before we begin," the Snake continued, "I want to introduce you to your superiors, my Jounin." As he said this, nearly men and women filed into the room to stand in a perfect horizontal line in front of the podium, save for Haku. This was why such a large area was needed. "These men – and a few ladies – shall be your go-to people if you have issues. Come to me, and you shall regret it." He circulated a hard stare around the room. The look quickly dissipated and a smile formed on his face once again. "Now, for some rules. Number one, don't bother me. Number two, you will do everything you are ordered to do by your superiors. This includes Chuunins, Jounins, Jinchuurikis, my Special Jounin, Kabuto, and, of course, me. Fail to do so, and you will be exterminated." The man spoke as if they were all nothing more than varmints to do his bidding. "And number three, you will _never_ attempt to leave without my permission. The last time someone tried was five years ago and let's just say that things didn't end well." He chuckled.

Sasuke came instantly alert at this. Five years ago? When Naruto had disappeared?

"Anyway!" Orochimaru clapped his hands together gleefully. "You wanted to be here, so work hard! If not," he shrugged, "there are always others to be recruited." He made a dismissive gesture and his Jounin filed obediently back out the door in which they had entered. "Now, I do so love seeing when people realize they have sold their soul to me, so how about we bring in the ones you should really fear, hm? Jinchuuriki!" he called.

All around the room, Sasuke saw paling faces and nervous fidgeting, even with Sakura and Kiba. Sasuke could tell that Shikamaru was starting to feel uncomfortable as well but he hid it much better than most others in the room. Sasuke didn't know how to feel. Sure, Kakashi had said the Jinchuuriki were dangerous but he had never once seen one. How could he fear something he had never seen?

One by one, the Jinchuuriki filed into the room from the door the Jounin had exited. Each had their Marks exposed to show their rank so Sasuke knew that they came in order of One-Tail through the Eight-Tails. The Nine-Tails was nowhere to be seen; perhaps Orochimaru had still not replaced the position. Now Sasuke understood what Kakashi had meant by knowing who they were by their presence alone; each one seemed to harbor a fierce killing intent. The stench of death almost dripped off of them in waves and their expressions were frighteningly blank. For the first time, Sasuke felt the cold hands of fear creep up on him but he furiously shoved them down. He was an Uchiha. There was nothing an Uchiha feared, not even Death itself.

Glancing at the room's other occupants, Sasuke noted that the anxiety and terror levels had risen drastically with the sight of the eight Jinchuuriki in the flesh and blood. Most probably only knew them as myths or legends, or through reputation, rather than as real human beings. Although, Sasuke mused as he turned his attention back to the group lined up at the front, they were more like feral monsters – or maybe deadly _weapons_ would be a better term – than human beings.

He was examining each of the Jinchuuriki in turn, making sure not to make eye contact with any of them, when he caught a glimpse of movement from the corner of his eye. He swiftly switched his gaze over to the child hostage and narrowed his eyes. The boy was cowering from something, but what? He had been fine just a minute ago – scared, yes, but not completely terrified like he was now. Sasuke scanned the front of the room looking for an answer when his eyes alighted on the Five-Tails. He racked his memory to remember the title given by Orochimaru: Gobi no Irukauma, wasn't it? Yes, that's what it was. The Jinchuuriki was towards the middle of the line and kept glancing behind him at the boy. Had the brat somehow offended a Jinchuuriki?

Sasuke's thoughts were interrupted when the doors behind him slammed open. He nearly jumped off of the bench stool he was sitting on, as did the others. Sakura even let out a little squeak of some sort. Sasuke wheeled around to take a look at the newcomer and felt his blood freeze. All sounds stopped, all motion in the room ceased. Before them stood the most feared Jinchuuriki out of the Nine: the Nine-Tails, Kyuubi no Kitsune. Somehow, Sasuke just knew it was him.

Sasuke watched as the man – for he was definitely all male with his muscular shoulders, strong frame, and confident presence – paced forward slowly. On his back were two katana, crossed in their sheaths. His attire was all black, and a trench coat covered the entirety of his body. Every now and then, Sasuke caught a glimpse of the dark clothes underneath from where the coat was unzipped. The tips of the man's fingers was the only skin that showed besides the base of the neck and collar bone, but that was tan and wouldn't show in darkness. Even the man's hair was covered by a hood. A chilling white mask with a blood-red fox design adorned his face. What caught Sasuke's eye, however, was the dagger in the man's hand, the flecks of blood on his mask, and the blood that dripped and pooled at his feet as he made his way towards Orochimaru. The Nine-Tails certainly had a dangerous aura about him. And he was definitely hurt badly. Somehow, however, the man managed to stay upright and not show any sign of pain, weakness, or fatigue. Sasuke didn't know how he did it.

"Ah," Orochimaru purred from the podium, recapturing his audience's attention, "Kyuubi no Kitsune. The hunt went well, I assume?"

Kyuubi merely nodded once.

"Good, I – "

"Kyuubi!"

Startled, all eyes alighted on a small figure streaking down the center of the warehouse. A shock went through the room when the child hostage flung himself at the _Kyuubi no Kitsune, _of all people, and clutched him around the middle in a desperate embrace. The room stood still in shocked silence at the impossible scene. Even Sasuke was startled by this surprising turn of events, though he would deny it if confronted.

**…**

Naruto had barely enough time to brace for impact before a blur collided with his battered and sore body. Damn the child! Damn him! Orochimaru was definitely going to use this against one or both of them.

Stifling a sigh, he reached behind himself and disentangled the boy's arms from around his middle. Once accomplished, with the boy looking up at him tearfully, he crouched and replaced the dagger in his left hand into his boot sheath. He had kept it out as a precaution against anyone who might attack him in his poor state.

That done, he straightened himself back up and looked down on the boy. "Move," he ordered, none too kindly. He saw the hurt flash across the boy's eyes but didn't waver. Instead, he pushed past the boy and began his way towards his 'master,' as Orochimaru referred to himself as. Something to his left caught his eye, however, and he made another cursory sweep of the room. He had already made one when he entered to search for threats but now he paid more attention to detail than he had before.

What he saw made his blood freeze in his veins. _I'm seeing things, _he tried to convince himself. Blinking behind his mask, he looked again. He definitely was _not_ seeing things. They were here. They had changed, but there was no mistaking that it was them: Shikamaru, Sakura, Kiba, and…Sasuke. And was that large mongrel the tiny fluffball he had bought for Kiba for his birthday one year? His mind was clogged with questions: Did they know he was here? Did they find out what he was? Were they here to get him? Did they really get recruited? Were they captured for ransom?

Immediately, Naruto quelled these thoughts. Whatever was going on, he would only make things worse by making their presence known. He had vowed to protect those precious to him five years ago, at all costs. And that cost had been high. He had had to do horrible things to not-so-horrible people, he had had to give up all things dear to him, had had to learn to rid himself of emotion…he would not jeopardize them by drawing attention to them or by revealing himself. Their ignorance was the key to their safety.

Naruto returned his attention to Orochimaru. He could feel Konohamaru following close behind him but the boy made no more moves to come into contact with him. If he could still express his emotions, he would have felt grateful. As it was, he felt nothing but a sense of completeness for a finished mission and took his place in the ranks of Jinchuuriki, sensing Konohamaru reluctantly return to Orochimaru's side. Now all he had to focus on was not passing out from blood loss for the rest of Orochimaru's welcome speech.

**…**

"Here, you'll need these."

Sasuke took the card keys. "More?" he asked. Was he going to get a card key for everything?

Haku shook his head. "No, you can give me back the other ones I gave you. I've put everything on these new ones."

"Why the special treatment?" Kiba asked cautiously. He was still shaken up by the creepy sight of the Nine-Tails covered in blood. The guy had stood stock still during the rest of Orochimaru's speech, blood dripping and pooling at his feet, before retreating to who-knows-where as gracefully as he pleased.

"I would have just put your room assignment on the other key cards since you would have been on the Genin floor. You requested to stay with the boy, though, so I had to…bend the rules a bit."

"Is this going to get you into trouble?" Sakura asked, concerned. She kind of liked Haku and didn't want him to get on Orochimaru's bad side. Although, she decided that she would rather be on the Snake's bad side than one of the Jinchuuriki's.

"It could," Haku admitted, "but I gave the other Jounin a pretty good excuse so I don't think they'll be asking any more questions."

The four really didn't need to know anything more than that so they let the matter drop.

"What's so special about these card keys?" Shikamaru asked.

"The floor that the boy is on is restricted. I had to give you an override key for the elevator and the room. You will be on floor two, room nine. Press the elevator button first and then slide one of the cards."

"Will it let us go anywhere?" Kiba asked.

"Almost," Haku answered. "You will be able to get on any floor two and below. You won't be able to get on the first floor. If I did that, the other Jounin would have done more to me than just ask questions."

Sasuke nodded his head in understanding. "Let's go," he addressed the group, turning.

"Wait," Haku said. Sasuke turned back towards him. The feminine male handed him a piece of paper with an address written on it. "Everyone else has to wait for someone to escort them to the building. Until Orochimaru deems them trustworthy, he doesn't let them know the location of the hideout. He uses buses with covered windows to take them there. This way, you can go yourselves and get in before Orochimaru shows up. Don't wander around on any floor but the Genin level. When on the second floor, get straight to your room or to the elevator. You'll be putting all of our lives at risk if you don't listen."

"Hn," Sasuke acknowledged, looking at the slip of paper.

"I have a taxi waiting for you two blocks over. Take it."

**…**

"Please scan retina."

Kiba visibly jumped, causing Akamaru to whine in alarm. Sasuke glared at them. "What?" Kiba asked. "I wasn't expecting a freaking elevator to talk to us!"

Sasuke ignored the comment and swiped the override key card that Haku had given him.

"Identity: Unknown. Thank you for your patience."

Sasuke stared at the screen above the elevator doors and watched as it switched from '1' to '2' before a _ding_ sounded and the doors slid open. He stepped out into a huge hallway, the other three – and Akamaru – in tow. He looked left and right, noticed the numbers went in numerical order, and turned to the right, heading for the end of the long hallway for the door marked with a '9.' When he got there, he slid the key card and heard a click of the door as it was unlocked for him. Grabbing the handle, he turned it and stepped into the room.

Sasuke nearly gaped. The 'room' turned out to practically be a whole house. On just one level, the space opened up into a large living room, a sizeable kitchen and dining area, and he could see a bathroom on each side of the spacious hallway before him that lead straight back. Six bedrooms adorned each side of the hallway, three on each side, after the bathrooms. As he scanned the end of the hallway, a large metal door caught his eye. He strode swiftly to the end of the hall and stood before it. He could feel the others behind him. A key lock was on the left side, just like the door to the room had been. He pulled out his override card again and swiped it. A red light appeared on the keypad of the lock and Sasuke swiped his card again, wondering if he had done it wrong the first time. No such luck.

Sasuke replaced the key card in his pocket and turned around to survey the area more closely. The two rooms at this side of the hall seemed to be occupied. That, he had not expected. He thought that they would only be rooming with Konohamaru. The bedroom to his right, as he faced the door they had entered from, appeared to be the child's. There were clothes strewn on the floor that seemed to be about his size.

But when Sasuke looked at the room opposite…it was definitely used but there didn't seem to be any personal possessions about. He entered the bedroom and crossed to the closet and opened it. Clothes. So he was right, there was another person living here…

After checking the other rooms, he and his companions determined that they were vacant, thankfully, and they each chose a room and unpacked their meager belongings. Sasuke chose the one next to Konohamaru so he could monitor the boy, Sakura chose hers across from Sasuke, beside the room of the unknown occupant, Shikamaru set up next to Sakura's, and Kiba and Akamaru took the room across from Shikamaru and beside Sasuke. It took them no more than fifteen minutes to set up their area so they decided to meet in the living room area and give Sakura the crash course she so desperately needed.

Half an hour later, and the door opened. Instantly, the four companions were on alert. The one who stepped through the door, however, was none other than Konohamaru. Accompanying him were two people none of them recognized: a strange, tall, hooded guy with weird purple tattoos on his face, and a stern-looking woman with blonde hair pulled up in four pony tails at the back of her head.

"What are you doing here?" the woman demanded. The man took a defensive stance and reached for what Sasuke assumed was a weapon at the small of his back. Immediately, he stood.

"We're assigned to this room," he said monotonously.

"There's no way someone like _you_ was assigned here," the man intoned.

"We were," Shikamaru reasoned. "Maybe it was a mistake. We just came from our Academy testing. Kabuto gave us these override cards and sent us here," he said, thinking quickly.

The man looked skeptical but took the card and examined it. Apparently satisfied, but still looking at the occupants suspiciously, he handed it back. "All right," he said.

The atmosphere in the room relaxed a little and the woman spoke. "We have to go, Konohamaru. Shukaku will be expecting us."

Sasuke went fully alert at the mention of the One-Tail. They knew him?

"All right," Konohamaru replied. "Will you come get me for food again? I think Kyuubi is mad at me."

"Kyuubi doesn't get mad at anyone," the man replied. "Like Shukaku, he has repressed those emotions. He doesn't like you, he doesn't hate you. The sooner you realize that, the better. You'll keep everyone out of trouble that way."

Konohamaru lowered his gaze. "But I like _him_…" he said pitifully.

The woman sighed. "We know," she said. "Kyuubi is incapable of feeling affections towards you. And even if he could, Orochimaru would use it against him. Just lay low and do as you're told. You'll be home before you know it."

With that, the two strangers turned and left, leaving Konohamaru with the KPD agents.

Finally, Sakura broke the silence. "So…Konohamaru," she said.

He looked up quickly. "Yeah?"

Sakura smiled. "You can't tell anyone this, okay?" She waited for the boy's nod. "We're here to keep an eye on you for your parents."

Konohamaru's eyes widened. "Really?"

"Yes." Sakura replied. They had decided that it would be best to fill Konohamaru in on part of their operation, despite the risks it entailed to make it easier to keep an eye on the boy.

Konohamaru laughed joyfully. Friends! He now had friends to help him get through this. He wasn't alone anymore!

Just then, the door reopened. "Did you guys forget something, Temari?" Konohamaru asked, turning. "Wha – Kyuubi!" he exclaimed upon seeing that it wasn't his friends, Temari and Kankuro. The Jinchuuriki definitely looked worse for the wear. Now that he was away from the prying eyes of others, he had allowed himself to feel the fatigue from his latest mission and was swaying dangerously on his feet. "Kyuubi! Are you okay?"

Without a word, the Jinchuuriki brushed past Konohamaru and walked to one of the two bathrooms, grabbed a kit, and proceeded down the hall to the last bedroom on the right and closed the door behind him. A soft _click_ indicated that he had locked it.

"So…" Kiba said shakily, "How in the hell did Haku leave out the fact that our new roommate is Kyuubi no Kitsune?"

**Well, that's it for this chapter. For some reason, I'm not too happy with it.**

**Is anyone confused about the layout of the place? If so, I made a diagram to make things easier. Go to this website** **to see it:**

(http) :/ /s1256 dot photo bucket dot com / albums / ii490 / ForeverDarkRider / Fanfiction % Art / ? action = view & current = 993db060 dot png **(Remove all spaces and parentheses and replace every 'dot' with a period.)**

**~Kyuubi~**


	12. Meeting Old Friends

**Chapter Eleven**

Naruto's heart pounded; not from the lingering adrenaline in his system, or even from the pain in his shoulder from the bullet wound. No, his heart pounded from fear, something he had not felt in a long time; not since the Jinchuuriki Trials.

_Why are they here?_ he asked himself. First, his childhood friends show up for some unknown reason and now they were on the Jinchuuriki floor? In the Nine-Tails Suite? _His_ suite? He narrowed his eyes. _What the hell is going on?_

With a barely audible grunt, he leaned against the wall at the far side of his room where he could watch the doorway. He slid down the vertical surface painfully to sit on the floor. He set the medical kit he had procured from one of the two bathrooms on the floor on his right side before slowly peeling his coat off his shoulders and tossing the blood-soaked garment to the side. He would have to dispose of that later so that no trace of his DNA was left anywhere. He didn't bother with his mask right now. Next, he pulled his blade out of the boot sheath and cut his sleeveless shirt off himself; it was too tight to try and pull it over his head and would probably just harm him further. Once that was off in the corner with his trench coat, he turned his head awkwardly to look at the bullet wound and sighed in defeat. Just as he feared, the bullet was still in his shoulder.

Opening the medical kit, he took out some sterile gauze and alcohol. He poured the liquid onto the gauze and then began the agonizing task of cleaning in and around his wound. He hissed as the burning liquid touched the puckered skin but forced himself to work through the pain and thoroughly clean the area. Next, he pulled out a pair of long surgical tweezers and took a deep breath before plunging it into the wound itself. He threw his head back as blackness tried to descend on him, before closing his eyes, gritting his teeth, and fishing around for the bullet in his shoulder. His whole arm radiated in pain when the tweezers made contact with the foreign object and it took a few moments, his hand shaking from the effort of remaining conscious and not throwing up, before he was finally able to angle the tweezers just right and pull the bullet out.

Naruto dropped both tweezers and bullet, not caring at the moment where they landed, and grabbed another sterile gauze to try and stem the flow of fresh blood that now drained freely from his shoulder. He knew he was losing the battle for awareness but he needed to staunch the blood from that wound, and also the one on his right side that wasn't as deep but bled as though a vein or artery had been nicked. He had already lost so much blood. Much more and Orochimaru was going to lose his best Jinchuuriki.

He weakly tried to hold the gauze over his shoulder with his right hand but found that he no longer had the strength to keep it there. As that thought crossed his mind, the darkness took him.

**…**

Sakura watched the child pace and vaguely wondered, not for the first time, how it was that he could worry about a murderer so much. The kid hadn't been here long so it wasn't as if he could have developed Stockholm's Syndrome yet, could he? But there was just no way that a monster such as the Kyuubi no Kitsune could warrant such concern from such a sweet child, so that had to be it, her nurse's mind told her.

After the boy had paced down the hall to knock on the Jinchuuriki's door and try the knob for a third time, Sakura had had enough.

"Konohamaru," she called gently, patting the spot beside her on the couch, "come sit with me." The boys, Sasuke, Kiba, and Shikamaru were currently in the kitchen, away from the living area that Sakura and Konohamaru were in, talking in low tones so that the two of them could not hear. Sakura knew, however, that they were discussing this new development in their mission; who knew they would have to _live_ with the Nine-Tails Jinchuuriki? Kakashi had specifically warned them to stay away from all of the Jinchuuriki, much less the highest ranked one.

When Konohamaru moved to do as asked and took a seat next to the pretty redhead, she took one of his hands and waited until he looked her in the eyes. She could clearly see the concern there. "You know who that man is, correct?" she asked Konohamaru gently.

"Yes," he answered immediately. "I know he is the Nine-Tails, if that's what you're asking." The boy seemed completely unafraid.

Sakura sighed. "Then you know he is very dangerous. We're supposed to keep you safe but I don't think that even the four of us could protect you from the Kyuubi no Kitsune himself."

Konohamaru shook his head vigorously. "You don't understand! He's not a bad guy; Orochimaru is the bad one! I can tell."

Sakura gave him a look that clearly indicated that she felt he was naïve. "He is a murderer, Konohamaru. He kills people for Orochimaru and even if you want to believe that he is a good person, it doesn't matter if he does bad things. Do you understand?"

Konohamaru swallowed, his eyes brimming with tears. "But he helped me! He tried to pretend he didn't care but he still got me away from one of the other Jinchuuriki and I don't think he wants to do any of the stuff that that stupid Snake makes him do! You don't know him!" Konohamaru burst.

"Neither do you," Sakura said truthfully. "You don't know anything about him, Konohamaru. All that you know – all that anyone knows – is that he is a Jinchuuriki, a killer. You don't know who he is, where he's from, how he came to be a Jinchuuriki, or even what type of a person he is, if someone like that can be classified as one."

"You're right," Konohamaru said. Sakura felt a bit of satisfaction at having shown Konohamaru the truth before he spoke his next words: "I don't know who he is, but I know he doesn't want to be here. I can just…tell."

Sakura thought about this for a moment, before deciding that she probably wasn't going to convince him otherwise for the time being. Perhaps later, when the Kyuubi no Kitsune showed his true colors, the boy would see reason. For now, she would humor him. "Okay," Sakura acquiesced softly.

Konohamaru sniffed and wiped his face with his sleeve. "I'm worried about him."

"I know," Sakura said.

"Can we check on him somehow?" the boy asked pitifully.

Sakura stroked the boy's hair gently. "He locked the door, remember?"

Konohamaru's small frame seemed to deflate. "But…he's hurt."

Sakura sighed in defeat. "All right," she said, "I've learned a few tricks over the years from hanging out with Ino." _And attempting to sneak into Sasuke's house a few times_, she omitted, thinking of the times she and Ino had been desperate for a glimpse into their past crush's private life. She stood up and dug in her pocket for her new key card, conscious of Konohamaru's hopeful gaze. "Come on," she said, gesturing towards the door. The three KPD agents looked up as she passed before silently following behind her and Konohamaru, their stances guarded and ready for a fight if need be. After all, they were breaking into a Jinchuuriki's room.

When Sakura got to the door, she chanced turning the knob again to make sure it was still locked before sighing and crouching down. She placed her ear near the door handle and slid the key card between the door and the wall, below the lock, sliding it up and down. After a few moments, she finally heard a click and she grabbed the knob and pushed the door open. Konohamaru rushed past her before she could stop him and crouched next to a bundle against the back wall with a small cry.

Sakura came forward a little more cautiously, the three boys following closely behind her, sensing no signs of danger for the moment. When the woman reached Konohamaru, she took in the sight before her. There was a wetness on the floor that, from the smell, she could distinguish as blood in the low light, the only source being that from the hallway; there were no windows below the first floor, since all the other floors were underground.

"I'll find a light switch," Kiba said quietly, as if making too much noise would bring on an attack from the fallen assassin. After a few moments of searching, the brunette had apparently found one since the darkness was flooded out with bright light.

Sakura gasped at the site before her. There was blood all over the floor, most of it from the Jinchuuriki's left shoulder but some still oozed slowly from a gash on the man's right side. She cast a practiced gaze over his body and immediately recognized the side wound as a graze from a knife and the other from a gunshot. There didn't seem to be any blood on the wall so it appeared that the bullet should still be in the wound but when she glanced around, she noticed a bloodied piece of iron lying somewhat to his right, appearing to have been flung along with the tweezers used to remove it. It took a lot of pain tolerance to be able to handle that, but to be able to do it himself? Just what _was_ this guy? And for him to lose so much blood yet still remain awake and coherent long enough…

Shaking herself out of her thoughts, she mulled over this situation and for a moment, she considered not treating him. After all, this man was a dangerous murderer. Then she thought of the consequences that would come along with drawing attention. This man was Orochimaru's most valued hit man and it wasn't likely that his death would go unnoticed.

Finally, Sakura allowed her medical training to take over. "Kiba, get me the table out of the dining room; Sasuke, you help him. Shikamaru, go grab my medicine pack and bring it to me." She looked to the boy crouched next to Kyuubi with concern. "Konohamaru," she began gently, "can you help?" It would be best to have the boy do something rather than sit around and fret. He would just distract her and get in her way. At his nod, she gave a small, encouraging smile, which he returned. "I need you to go to the kitchen and boil me some water in a pan then bring it here after it's good and hot. Do you know how to do that?" He nodded confidently and ran to do her bidding.

"Where do you want this?" Sasuke asked, carrying one side of the table, Kiba on the other.

Sakura moved aside and pointed to the middle of the room. "When you're done with that, I need you to place him on the table gently. Try not to stretch any of the wounds." They set the table down and then lifted the muscular Jinchuuriki onto the table under Sakura's watchful gaze.

"Here it is," Shikamaru said. "It got pushed under the couch. Troublesome."

Sakura ignored the remark. "Good," she said distractedly, taking out her stethoscope and sphygmomanometer before handing the bag back and checking her patient's blood pressure. "Bring over that nightstand and set it at his head, out of my way," she murmured. "Get in my kit and get out the alcohol, iodine, sutures, butterfly bandages, suture needle, penlight, gauze, surgical scissors and tweezers, and bandages," she ordered when Shikamaru had done as she told.

As Shikamaru was doing that, Konohamaru returned, walking slowly with the steaming pot of water. It still bubbled somewhat from being over the fire. "Good job," Sakura praised. "Can you do me another favor?"

"Sure," Konohamaru said reluctantly. Somehow, he just knew what she was going to say.

"I need someone to keep an eye on the door and let us know if someone comes. Can you do that?"

The boy glared. "You just want to get rid of me!"

Sakura bit her cheek. That was the reason she wanted him to keep watch but she couldn't tell him that. Instead, she crouched in front of him to bring them both to eye level. "Listen," she said, her voice serious, "we got these rooms under…questionable circumstances. If the wrong person were to walk in and see a supposed pickpocket and some cutthroat thieves working to save your friend here, we would all be in really big trouble. The four of us would have to leave you again and Kyuubi would probably die by the time more help came. Okay?" It was at least true, if not the whole truth.

Though, she thought, if they wanted to climb the ranks, it would only be natural that they want a Jinchuuriki to kick the bucket so that they had one less 'superior' to worry about. Then again, her earlier argument was still valid. He was a killer and certainly wasn't someone she wanted to be close to or to even have indebted to her, but Orochimaru was hovering over them all. And, unfortunately, her heart probably wouldn't let her sit by and watch someone die in front of her while her brain told her that keeping this guy around might not be too bad an idea; at least he didn't seem openly hostile. The next Jinchuuriki may not be so complacent.

Konohamaru pouted but nodded his head, turned on his heel, and left the room.

Sakura sighed and clapped her hands together once for encouragement to herself. "Okay!" she muttered to herself before turning to look at her patient. She 'tsked' at his condition. "Shikamaru, put the surgical scissors, the surgical tweezers, and the suture needle in the boiling water. Sasuke, come with me so I can scrub up in the bathroom," she said as she grabbed sterile gloves and the iodine. "After I wash up and put my gloves on, I can't touch anything or I'll contaminate myself and have to start over."

She went to the bathroom and scrubbed with the iodine up to her elbows, rinsed, and put her sterile gloves on. Sasuke made sure doors were open for her so she didn't have to touch them and she returned to her patient's room before staring hard at each of the occupants. "Now get out," she demanded with a glare.

**…**

Sakura emerged from the Jinchuuriki's room nearly four hours later looking exhausted but bright. Apparently things had gone well.

"Is he okay?" Konohamaru blurted. He had been practically bursting with concern and anxiety since first being ejected from the room.

Sakura scrubbed a hand over her face with a sigh. "He lost a lot of blood and probably won't be up and about for a while and he'll definitely be anemic," she said. "Since I can't give him transfusions, I'm really surprised that he isn't worse off than he is now." When Konohamaru gave her a flat look, she added: "He'll sleep for a few days, but he should be okay."

Konohamaru finally collapsed into a chair out of relief, looking as if he had just attempted a marathon. "That's good," he murmured tiredly, his eyes drooping.

Sakura smiled fondly, her maternal instincts kicking in. "Go on to bed," she said, "I'll come get you if he wakes."

Konohamaru gave her a long stare for a moment as if checking the truthfulness of her offer before stifling a yawn and nodding. His feet dragged as he made his way down the hall, first peeking in on the Jinchuuriki, then entering his own room and closing the door to block out sounds.

"I noticed something I think you guys might want to know," Sakura said as soon as she was sure the boy was settled in for the night.

"Yeah?" Kiba asked, curious. "What is it? This guy an alien or something?"

Sakura snorted at the stupidity. "No," she snapped. "I'm being serious, Kiba. Orochimaru is more sick than we thought."

This caught the others' interests. "How so?" Sasuke asked.

"Maybe it isn't done to all the Jinchuuriki," she said, "but this guy was tortured and drugged pretty frequently."

"How can you tell?"

Sakura turned her attention to Shikamaru to answer his question. "Scars. _Hundreds_ of them. Of course, some of them are from fights and such, I know. I can tell by the patterning and depth of them that they were from gunshot wounds, knife wounds, and the like and that he was trying to avoid those wounds, which makes me believe he was able to fight back. But the other ones…" Sakura shuddered. "They're horrific. When I took off his gloves, it looked like he was hung, at one point, by his wrists on wire or something; he has these crisscrossing scars that could have cut to the bone. And there are all kinds of track scars from needle injections, not just medical ones. He has a few scars that are scattered about on his front but his back is nearly _covered_. There are lash marks, knife marks, some burn marks, all done while he was immobile, unable to get away. I didn't really pay much attention to his mask until I staunched the blood flow and stitched him back up but he has three scars on each cheek, definitely not gotten from fighting or he would probably be dead, considering his profession. The worst one, though, is just…_horrific_." She got a faraway look in her eyes for a moment, thinking about the pain this man had to have endured over the years. "Someone carved the word _DEMON _into his back. It starts at his left hip and reads up to his right shoulder. I can't imagine why anyone would do that to another human being, even if he is a Jinchuuriki," she finished softly.

"Kakashi said that Jinchuuriki were willing," Sasuke mused, "so why would they torture him?"

"Maybe it was before he came to Orochimaru. Perhaps he became a Jinchuuriki to take revenge on the people who did it," Shikamaru pointed out.

"Too many 'maybes,'" Sasuke said.

They sat in their own thoughts for a moment before Sakura spoke again. "Oh, I think I figured out why none of the Jinchuuriki can be identified by the police." They all looked askance at her. "He doesn't have fingerprints and I assume none of the other Jinchuuriki do either."

"What?" Kiba asked as he absently scratched Akamaru's ears, who sat beside his partner on the floor. "How is that possible?"

"They were burned off," Sakura stated simply. "I'm guessing it's to retain their anonymity. The Snake certainly is cautious."

Kiba gave a low whistle. "He takes precautions to the extreme. I mean, none of the Jounin are missing fingerprints, right?" He looked to Sasuke and Shikamaru for confirmation.

"Kakashi never said anything about it whenever they've run across one, dead or alive," Shikamaru answered. Sasuke merely shrugged to indicate he had no more information than that.

Sakura sighed. "Okay, so we found Konohamaru. That's a positive for this mission. The negative: we've also already run into the most feared Jinchuuriki _and_ we're staying with him. Whatever comes next has to be another positive, right?" Sakura asked optimistically.

The others didn't have an answer.

**…**

The first thing he noticed when he came to was that he was lying on a hard, uncomfortable surface. Not the biggest issue in the world; he'd woken up to worse. But what was strange was that he knew he was without a shirt or shoes, his mask was off – he could tell even though he still hadn't managed to open his eyes – and his wounds didn't hurt as much as they should. Furthermore, he felt groggy, which was either from drugs or blood loss, if he was remembering the correct situation. He was pretty sure he had gotten back to his room from after hit with a couple of wounds; nothing too major, he'd had worse. The only issue was that he hadn't had them immediately treated because of Orochimaru's stupid ceremony and the man's insistence that he be there so the bastard could show him off to the new recruits.

Okay, so he had made it to the ceremony and suffered through it successfully without passing out right there in front of all those cutthroat criminals and the other Jinchuuriki. So then, he had made it back to his suite and…found his childhood friends. _That's right,_ he thought, _that's what happened._ Yet his mind was still too groggy to recall anything of the encounter or to remind him how bad that was. He didn't think that there was much interaction, however, because the last thing he remembered was staggering to the bathroom for his emergency kit and then to his room. He had begun treating his wounds and then…nothing. He'd blacked out.

That still didn't explain the heaviness in his body, though. He tried to twitch his fingers and found that he could. He wasn't paralyzed or drugged with anything disabling, then. _Must be the blood loss, _he concluded, testing the digits on his hand again. He suddenly heard a gasp and – before realizing he was even capable – snapped his eyes open and looked wildly around to find the danger. Someone was standing in the doorway with a weapon in their hand, quickly advancing on him. Acting on instinct and years of training with Orochimaru's goons, he quickly launched himself off the surface he was lying on – which he discovered was a table – and promptly fell to the floor in a heap, unconscious once more.

**…**

"What happened?" Sakura exclaimed as she rushed into the room.

Konohamaru stared dumbly at the Jinchuuriki on the floor. "I – ," he stopped, cleared his throat, and began again. "I couldn't sleep so I came to check on him. He moved his fingers…I guess I said something, I don't know, but he suddenly jumped up and then…"

"I see," Sakura said. "He woke up faster than I thought he would but obviously he had too much blood loss. Standing up that fast would have caused him to black out, for sure."

Konohamaru swallowed and nodded, still staring down at his self-proclaimed, sort-of friend. He had just wanted to check on the Jinchuuriki, nothing more, and now it seemed that he had made things worse…

Sakura seemed to sense his thoughts. "It wasn't your fault," she said, "it could have been me or one of the guys who came to check on him and he probably would have had more of a reaction with one of us since we're strangers. Okay?"

"Okay," Konohamaru agreed, only partially convinced.

The boy watched as Sasuke and Kiba picked Kyuubi up off the floor for a second time and, this time, placed him on his bed, under the covers. Sakura ordered them to leave the table where it was in case there was an emergency and she needed it again.

After looking over her patient for new bruises, lifting his eyelids and shining the penlight over them to check for signs of a concussion, and inspecting the bright white bandages around his shoulder and middle, she deemed that he was still in relatively good condition and didn't need any further treatment for the night. She announced that she would check on him again before morning to see if he showed any signs of discomfort and a need for more pain killers.

She was about to pull away and leave the room when she hesitated, her fingers grazing over one blonde lock of hair that got in the young man's face. She hadn't seen hair like that since…She shook her head. Naruto was dead and she needed to accept that. This man may have blonde hair, but that was where the resemblance stopped. His eyes had a little blue in them, she had noticed when she checked his pupils for any signs of concussion or brain hemorrhaging, but they also had red swirled in them as well. And there was no way that their Naruto would become a person such as this. Naruto was short, boyish, happy, and just an all-around innocent boy. This man before her was all muscle, hardened from fighting and violence, and not a shred of naivety to him. Sakura shook her head. Being in this place, so close to the person who killed their young friend, was driving her crazy, apparently…

**…**

As Konohamaru lay in his temporary bed, staring at the ceiling, he thought about the one called 'Kyuubi no Kitsune.' The others thought that he couldn't hear their low talk in the living room area, but he had learned how to hear things that others couldn't unless it was pointed out to them. He'd learned early on that he enjoyed playing pranks on people, especially when he went to his grandfather's office. He had had to spend a lot of time hiding and it got real boring, real quick. That's when he had started focusing on sounds, small ones, and he had figured out that if he focused hard enough, he could hear people talking two doors down with the help of a vent or a couple cracked doors. It was how he knew so much of what went on at the police station: he would overhear his uncle and his grandfather talking at times.

He rolled over onto his side and thought about what the four twenty-year-olds had discussed, about how Kyuubi had been tortured and such. Why would someone like him have to go through that? Konohamaru couldn't explain it but he just knew that the Jinchuuriki wasn't as bad as he and Orochimaru tried to portray him. Sure, Kyuubi was a killer – all Jinchuuriki were, it's what they were for – but Konohamaru got the sense that he didn't want to be. Not like when he saw all the other Jinchuuriki or when he stayed with the Five-Tails; Kyuubi wasn't like that. He wasn't kind, but he wasn't cruel either. He was more…indifferent.

And yet…Konohamaru found himself thinking that somehow, they were a lot alike. At least, at some point in time they had been.

**…**

It was around five in the morning when Kiba awoke to Akamaru's warning growl. He quickly but quietly stood up and opened his door without a sound, motioning for Akamaru to stay by his side at the ready. He peered out into the hallway but saw nothing that would have put his police dog on guard. He glanced back at his partner but a low whine indicated that Akamaru didn't think it was a false alarm and it wasn't a "potty break" warning (which Kiba still didn't know how he was going to accomplish this; for now, he was thinking of training his dog to use the toilet if there was no other way).

Kiba checked the hallway once more and moved quietly across the hall to Shikamaru's room and slipped inside. He called out softly and was relieved when Shikamaru immediately came awake and recognized him. It wouldn't have been fun to try and fend off an attack from his friend _and_ be quiet so as to not alert their intruder.

"What is it?" Shikamaru whispered almost inaudibly.

"Ask Akamaru," Kiba said dismissively. He still wasn't sure, himself.

Shikamaru slipped silently out of bed. "You alert Sakura. I'll get Sasuke and we'll meet you in Konohamaru's room."

Kiba nodded, though whether Shikamaru saw it or not, he wasn't positive.

"What's going on?" Sakura whispered once everyone was gathered in Konohamaru's room. Kiba had just gotten back with Akamaru.

"Akamaru woke Kiba up with a warning," Sasuke answered.

"Well, what are we going to do? Did Haku take care of everything so that we don't have to hide out in here during the whole investigation?" she asked back.

"Who knows?" Shikamaru said with a shrug. "Maybe he doesn't have the pull here that he let on about."

"We'll have to figure something out," Sasuke murmured thoughtfully. "Perhaps if we – "

"I have an idea."

All eyes turned to Konohamaru.

"Just leave things to us, kid," Kiba piped up.

"But this will work," the boy insisted.

The four infiltrators looked at each other before silently agreeing to at least hear the child out and returned their attention to him.

Konohamaru puffed himself up. "I'll go see who it is."

The others gaped. _That_ was his brilliant plan? "No," Sakura refused immediately.

"But – !"

"No 'buts,' Konohamaru! It's too dangerous," she insisted.

"Yeah, but –"

"She's right, kid, just leave things to us," Kiba said again.

Konohamaru sighed. "Just _listen_, _okay_?" Seeing no harm in that, the others stayed silent. "I'm _supposed _to be here, remember? Wouldn't it make sense for me to be seen?"

"I…Oh," Sakura muttered.

"He has a point," Shikamaru stated wisely.

"Hn," Sasuke nodded. "Here's the plan."

**…**

He was nervous. Even though he had volunteered himself and he had agreed to the plan, he was still terrified. He hoped the others didn't notice or they probably wouldn't let him go through with it.

"You remember what you're supposed to do?" Sasuke questioned. Konohamaru nodded. "Good. You do it, you come back here. We'll be waiting and listening for any signs of trouble."

Konohamaru swallowed, nodded once more, and stumbled out of the room. The idea was to feign drowsiness, even though he was inevitably wide awake. He gave a big yawn and rubbed one eye with a knuckle for better effect.

"What are you doing up?"

He jumped at the loud voice in such a quiet space and quickly forgot that he was supposed to be looking asleep. It probably wouldn't have mattered much, anyway; such a scare would probably make anyone come alert. "I needed to pee," he replied shakily, remembering their excuse for him wandering around (Part I of The Plan). "Who are you?" Keep the information flowing (Part II).

"Don't be stupid, child, you know exactly who I am."

And suddenly, Konohamaru recognized that voice: "Kabuto."

Kabuto chuckled. "Very good. You're not as big an imbecile as I first predicted. Still not all that bright, however. That's too bad." The man chuckled again.

"What are you doing here?"

"Orochimaru wishes to see his Jinchuuriki," Kabuto replied, "not that it is any of your concern. Where is he?"

Konohamaru hesitated. Should he tell him? What did that evil man want with Kyuubi? Surely he wasn't going to send him on another mission in his condition? Those thoughts swirled in his head but what choice in the matter did he have? It wasn't like Kyuubi would be anywhere but here. "His room," Konohamaru replied thickly.

Kabuto dismissed him with a wave of his hand and brushed past him, his strides long. Konohamaru was still shaking from the encounter, even after Kabuto had entered Kyuubi's room and shut the door behind him. Being back in his own temporary room and in the company of more friendly people (Part III) didn't even make the shaking abate. He had been so _nervous_, so _scared_. That was Orochimaru's right hand man, his most trusted person. If things had gone badly…he shuddered. It was best not to think about that.

**…**

"_What are you doing up?"_

Sasuke heard the voice through the cracked door and his tension released somewhat. It wasn't Orochimaru; at least they didn't have that to worry about just yet.

"_I needed to pee." _A pause_. "Who are you?"_

Sasuke nodded his approval. Despite how terrified he could tell the boy was, he at least could remember simple instructions.

"_Don't be stupid, child, you know exactly who I am."_

His eyebrows furrowed. Who was he? He sounded familiar yet Sasuke couldn't place the voice with a face.

"_Kabuto._"

That's right! Kabuto. He had seen the man at the ceremony but couldn't remember his name or where he had seen him before. It was the bastard who had killed the parents of his best friend, Naruto, and had indirectly killed Naruto himself. His fists clenched and his teeth ground in anger. He barely heard the rest of the conversation, he was so busy mulling over the best way to kill the man and get away with it. He didn't snap out of it until Konohamaru had returned and practically buried himself in Sakura's embrace. The child had done well, Sasuke had to admit, and could be useful in a bind. If he could avoid it however, for the sake of their mission, he would try and keep the boy out of harm's way entirely.

**…**

"Wake up!" Kabuto spat cruelly, smacking him across the face. Judging by his aching jaw, it wasn't the first time the man had done it and it had apparently taken several whacks to bring him back to consciousness.

Naruto glared as he stood up. "What the hell do you want?" he asked, his voice deathly cold. If it weren't for the risky repercussions that would come along with it, he would have killed this man long ago.

Kabuto smirked triumphantly. "Well, you look better than I expected," he drawled. "Who fixed you up, hm?" The man looked around the room, taking in the medical equipment, blood on the floor, his discarded and bloodied clothes, and the stained dining table.

Naruto avoided glancing in the direction of the other rooms. He had learned long ago that that was an excellent way to get information and had actually used it himself. He remembered a time when he had fumbled a hit and had to chase the man a ways. Turned out the guy had actually hidden himself at a relative's house, the idiot. He had asked – _oh-so-sweetly_, of course –, where the man was hiding and the woman whose house he had taken refuge in had shifted her gaze to a door. Naruto had found the man huddled, whimpering, behind jackets in a coat closet and had slit his throat right there. The woman, unfortunately, had had to die as well since she had witnessed the assassination and could give the police information that would tie it back to Orochimaru.

Naruto had learned many things from his victims, for which he was grateful at times like these. "One-Tail," he replied. It wasn't uncommon for he and Shukaku to patch each other up after a hit since they had gone through the Trials together and they were both quite adept at it since it was often that a Jinchuuriki got hurt. He hoped that that answer would satisfy the man.

Kabuto stared, unconvinced. He had noticed items strewn haphazardly about the suite when he had entered – had tripped over a few of them, actually, in the dim light – and knew that they did not belong to the Kyuubi no Kitsune, nor the hostage child that he had taken in. He smiled. "I see," he said thoughtfully.

"Again, _Kabuto_," he spat out the man's name, "what do you want?"

"Ah, that's right, I did come here for a reason, didn't I?"

Naruto eyed the man. He seemed distracted. And why was he here at – the blonde looked at the clock – just past five in the morning? Sure, they all kept odd hours, but usually Kabuto and Orochimaru were conducting underground business right now. They would be asleep at about eight – there were normal workers to run Orochimaru's 'legitimate' business above ground – and up around five or six in the evening to start up their work again.

Kabuto suddenly turned a feral grin on Naruto and his stomach dropped. Damn, he hated that feeling. He thought that that feeling had been beaten out of him yet that kid and his old friends showing up was really bringing out some things that he would have rather left in the past: compassion, protectiveness, and _fear_ – not for himself, but for others. They were foreign to him by now and with how his life was presently, he'd rather keep it that way.

"Let's meet your new roommates first, shall we?"

Naruto forced his expression to remain neutral, bland. _Don't let him see that you still have even the smallest amount of emotions_, he chided himself. Kabuto, like Naruto himself, thought that they had been eradicated long ago.

The Jinchuuriki eased himself out of his bed, paused to make sure he wasn't going to black out again, then slowly followed Kabuto to the other side of the hall where Konohamaru stayed. The man gave the door a shove. He smiled at the scene and made a cursory sweep from left to right. Though Kabuto knew that they had all been trying to listen intently to their inaudible conversation, he saw the effort they put into making it seem otherwise. He was all too familiar with it: a brunette sat on the floor with a rather large dog head in his lap, both appearing completely relaxed, while another, taller brunette male laid on his back in the middle of the rather large bed, hands cradling his head as he gazed up at the ceiling. What was so fascinating, Kabuto would never know. Then there was a black-haired male standing towards the back, arms crossed, leaning against the wall nonchalantly, yet Kabuto could sense hostile waves radiating from the man. _Curious…_he thought.

Turning his head, he saw a pretty young woman trying to look tough while sitting in a chair by the lamp. Perhaps she was tough; after all, he and Orochimaru received a multitude of emotions: fear, admiration, disgust. The woman may be trying to impress or maybe she was just terrified of such a renowned criminal.

Then there was the child: Konohamaru Sarutobi. He was the only one _not_ trying to look inconspicuous. He was merely standing in the middle of the room, openly staring at the two new occupants.

"Well, what do we have here," Kabuto asked of the room. He turned to the Jinchuuriki. "Some friends, Kyuubi?"

Naruto merely stared at the man. Confirming the accusation would condemn them all. Denying, however, would make him look defensive and cause the same result. It was a lose-lose situation he had gotten himself in. It was better to merely stand stoically, as if he didn't care _what_ the man made of the situation.

"Hmm," Kabuto murmured thoughtfully, tapping his chin with a finger and observing them all. He seemed to come up with an answer to his unspoken question and turned with a cheerful smile to Kyuubi. "Come! Orochimaru awaits and we don't want to be long, now do we?"

The two turned to go when a shout came from behind them. "Wait!"

Kyuubi immediately glanced back with a glare at Konohamaru, who shrunk back fearfully, before striding out of the room without another glance. Kabuto stared at the child with an expression of amusement and something else before following the assassin.

**…**

"You idiot!" Kiba exploded, jumping up off the floor after he was sure the two men were gone. "What were you thinking, bringing attention to yourself, _and us_, like that!"

"Give it a rest, Kiba," Sakura scolded, seeing the guilty look on Konohamaru's face. "It isn't like he has the training to know what to do in these kinds of situations! He's a hostage, for christ's sake!"

"That doesn't mean he doesn't have common sense, Sakura!"

"He's only a child!"

"Kiba's right, Sakura," Sasuke said coolly. "Now we have Kabuto Yakushi's interest. Do you understand, Konohamaru?" he asked seriously, addressing the boy. "Now not only are we rooming with the Nine-Tails Jinchuuriki, we are also being watched by Orochimaru's second as well. If we're going to keep you safe and get all of us out of here in one piece – _and alive,_ so we can take the Snake Bastard down – then you – all of us – have to lay low and remain under the radar. So far, we haven't done very well in that respect."

When Sasuke fell silent, lost in thought, Shikamaru took over the explanation, albeit a little more gently. "We all have to work together to keep each other safe. If one person here brings attention to himself, that attention is going to fall on everyone since we all associate with one another. Get it?" Konohamaru nodded. "Good," Shikamaru said, satisfied, as he ruffled the child's hair.

All was quiet for a little while as everyone was deep in their own thoughts before Konohamaru spoke. "What do you think Orochimaru wants with him? It isn't like he can really do anything right now…"

Sakura sighed. When was this kid going to understand that the Kyuubi no Kitsune was not to be worried about or associated with more than was necessary? "Who knows, Konohamaru," she said exasperatedly. She was pumped full of adrenaline, her nerves were shot, and the kid was still naïve. "Maybe he's having a tea party for all of his friends."

Konohamaru glared at the flippant remark, a little hurt that she hadn't taken his question seriously. "They're not friends," he muttered before sulking off to another part of the suite.

"Harsh," Kiba said quietly.

Sakura glared. "Shut up. He needs to grow up and realize that the world isn't all sparkles and sunshine and that some people just aren't good."

Sasuke suddenly felt a sense of déjà vu. Why did that seem familiar…? Then it hit him.

"_Oh, shut it, Sasuke! You don't know anything! Not everything is all peaches and sunshine all the time!"_

That's right, he remembered. Naruto had said something very similar when Sasuke had gotten irritated with him for having an increasingly bad attitude. It had been the first time that Naruto had allowed Sasuke around nearing one of his parents' anniversary deaths. Sasuke had snapped and told him that his behavior was annoying and no one was happy with Bubbly Idiot, and that Emo Idiot was even worse. The raven had felt so guilty after finding out just why he had been acting that way that he had promised Naruto ramen for a year. Damn loser had cleaned out his allowance.

He shook those thoughts aside. Now was not the time to be thinking about painful memories of the past. Not when he was so close to closing that chapter of his life and finally letting his friend rest peacefully. Yet he refused to let the memory of his best friend go before the people responsible for his death were held accountable.

**…**

"Ah, Kyuubi," Orochimaru purred. Naruto barely kept his lip from curling in disgust. "Did Kabuto tell you why you're here?"

"No," Naruto replied obediently.

Orochimaru chuckled. "I thought not. How is that hostage of mine doing?"

"Fine."

"Excellent, excellent. I wonder, however, how did he come into your possession? Unless I'm mistaken, I'm pretty sure I put him under Gobi's care."

"I thought it best that he be under my care."

"I see," Orochimaru replied thoughtfully. "Are you fond of the child?"

Naruto was careful not to reply too quickly as to seem defensive, nor too late as to appear reluctant. "No," he said confidently, "I merely thought it better that he reside in my suite considering Gobi's record. I didn't think that you would approve of losing such a valuable hostage to the Five-Tails' temper."

Orochimaru stared at Naruto as if trying to weed out the lies. Finally, he smiled. "You're right, how silly of me. Such an expensive child should be put with someone…not there, right? After all, you're hardly ever around most days since you're my best Jinchuuriki. But…what was that little display at the recruitment ceremony last night?"

"The boy is rather clingy to those he believes have been kind to him. He took my preserving him from Gobi as an offer of friendship instead of for what it really was."

"Ah," Orochimaru acquiesced, "understandable."

Naruto relaxed a little but kept a close eye on Kabuto. The man had been unusually quiet, standing off to the side and fiddling with an electronic. When was he going to mention the others?

"Oh, before I forget, Kyuubi," Orochimaru said, obtaining Naruto's full attention, "it _is_ that time of year again." Naruto's features hardened and Orochimaru chuckled knowingly. "Surely you hadn't forgotten what comes after the annual recruitment?" At Naruto's controlled look, Orochimaru smiled joyfully and continued. "It's time for the Jinchuuriki Trials and Challenges. Needless to say, I need you to be at your best so take the next couple of weeks off to prepare and train for the Challenges. I doubt that one of the candidates will make it to your level so you needn't worry about that this year. None of them seem promising. The Challenges, however, I cannot say the same. Several of the other Jinchuuriki have been coveting your position for a while now; you'd best be prepared." With that, he waved his hand in dismissal and Naruto turned and left, thinking about the ways in which he would need to condition himself to survive again this year.

**…**

"You've been quiet, Kabuto."

"Yes, Lord Orochimaru, I've had a lot on my mind."

"Such as?"

"Well, sir, it seems that we have someone pulling some strings behind our backs."

Orochimaru's eyes narrowed at his most trusted subordinate. "Meaning…?"

"Kyuubi no Kitsune has four new roommates, besides the hostage child. I was trying to figure out how they would have gotten on the Jinchuuriki floor since none of the Jinchuuriki were present at the time."

"That is a predicament…" Orochimaru murmured thoughtfully. "They can't get to the first floor, can they?"

"It seems not," Kabuto replied. "I checked the elevator database while the two of you were talking and it seems that they have their own key cards so they were definitely at the recruitment. The only thing different about these Genin is that they are in the system as rooming in the Nine-Tails' suite, which would naturally call for them to have access to the Jinchuuriki floor."

"The investment in the database and your handheld computer certainly came in handy," Orochimaru drawled. "Do we know whom they got the key cards from?"

"Yes, sir."

"Name?"

"Haku Yuki."

**…**

**I would like to apologize for the delay, guys. I've got a lot going on:**

**(1) I got a job and work 30+ hours a week.  
(2) I still train 7 original horses and just took on two more.  
(3) I still feed and water horses and turn them out/bring them in.  
(4) I still babysit.  
(5) And, finally, I am still going to college.  
(6) Let's not forget the whole situation with my great grandma. Thankfully, she seems to be doing okay now, something the doctors said wouldn't happen.**

**Needless to say, writing, while a more preferable way to spend my time, is not my first priority. I will try to continue to write on my days off.**

**Now, about this chapter. What did you guys think of it? A lot of big events are coming up soon so things will really start to pick up and get moving. I originally had something else planned but I decided to throw the Trials in there and something that I just thought of, The Jinchuuriki Challenges. You'll have to wait and see what that is all about.**

**Until next chapter!**

**~Rider~**


	13. Tainting the Light

_**It has certainly been a while, and I apologize for that.**_

**Chapter Twelve**

Sweat dripped down his bare skin in rivulets and his breaths came in harsh pants. His muscles ached and shook from the pain and excursion but he continued attacking the dummy. The Challenges were coming up and he needed to be prepared, injured or not. In fact, part of his hard work was just for show. By now, all of the other Jinchuuriki knew that he had been injured on his last mission but none of them knew the severity of it. Naruto would like to keep it that way, lest they see some form of weakness in him. It was best that they thought he was still in tip top shape in order to shake them up a little. Otherwise, they would discover that he wasn't as well off as he pretended to be; some might even challenge him before the Trials if they were feeling brave enough. This way, he could rebuild and maintain his strength while still keeping up the appearance of never having lost it. He'd learned this particular trick a long time ago.

It was nearing dawn now and there weren't many of the other Jinchuuriki left in the training room reserved just for them and the future candidates. When it was just he and Shukaku left, he allowed himself to rest, wheezing and shaking still from the effort. It was unusual for him to get tired, especially so quickly, and Naruto always felt helpless when in this state. Luckily, he and Shukaku had a silent pact of camaraderie, which allowed them both to be secure in the other's presence, no matter his state of being at the time.

"You look like death."

Naruto shot the fellow Jinchuuriki a glare look. "You're one to talk, with your insomnia."

The red-haired youth allowed a small curve of the lips, one reserved only for his siblings and Naruto. "At least your spirit hasn't died yet." He sobered. "You're going to need it for the Challenges. And to protect your precious people."

Naruto whirled and slammed Shukaku against the wall, his teeth bared in anger. "I told you not to speak of them around here!" He hissed, his voice dangerously low. "You know that bastard has eyes everywhere."

Shukaku's face remained impassive, undisturbed. "You aren't exactly keeping it much of a secret."

Naruto stared at him for a while before pulling back and throwing a punch. Shukaku merely dodged, understanding the façade for what it was: a way to talk without drawing suspicion with their quietness and close proximity. "What do you mean?" Naruto demanded as quietly as possible. "What are you talking about, Gaara?"

"You've been acting soft since the boy showed up. Is he special to you?" Gaara, or Shukaku the One-Tailed Jinchuuriki, asked as he blocked a kick and countered with a fist aimed at his opponent's face. He was careful not to put too much force into it in case of the off chance of actually landing a hit on his injured friend. Though Kyuubi, Naruto, didn't want to acknowledge that they were friends in order to keep Gaara from being used against him, Gaara had no such reservations. He had no reason for Orochimaru to need leverage since he had joined as a Jinchuuriki candidate willingly.

"No," Naruto replied, barely dodging a punch that would never have fazed him if not for the injury to his side. "I don't even know him."

Gaara felt a rare surge of anger course through his veins. "Then why risk your life by protecting him so openly?"

Naruto's eyes glazed over with remembered pain before suddenly snapping back to clarity in order to do a back flip over Gaara and land a direct hit between the shoulder blades, knocking the One-Tail to his knees. Naruto clenched his fists at his sides, a pained expression on his usually blank face. "I won't let him go through what we did."

Gaara looked at the Nine-Tailed Jinchuuriki before him. He had thought that his friend had no emotional capabilities left, after all the atrocities he had been forced to commit to protect the ones he loved. That's why he hated those people; the ones that Naruto protected so fiercely. Why did they deserve his compassion, his protection, his body, his _life_? What made them so special? Gaara had been here for Naruto for _years_. They were _candidates_ together! They'd been there for each other when things got hard and yet all Gaara could do over the years was watch as his friend grew quieter, as he rid himself of all emotion except for hatred. He had turned himself into the opposite of who he was: a cruel, brutal killer, in order to protect those he loved and to one day, hopefully, kill Orochimaru for what he had forced him to be and do.

Gaara could do _nothing_. But now, one appearance of a child and some old, forgotten friends, and suddenly those buried emotions were starting to emerge again? He didn't understand it one bit. And he found that it pissed him off. "You know that wouldn't happen," he said. "He isn't a nobody like us; he is much too valuable. Besides," he said quietly as he got up off his knees and turned to face Naruto, "was it really that bad?"

Naruto understood what Gaara meant: Was it really so bad, all the time they spent together, protecting each other, tending to each other's wounds, and just generally taking in the companionship? He looked away from those piercing, dusky-blue eyes. No, that wasn't bad, but everything else… "You had a reason to want to be here, to become a Jinchuuriki," he said, avoiding directly answering the question. "You wanted the strength and power to kill your father."

"You had a reason as well, did you not? You wanted to protect your precious people," Gaara countered smoothly.

Naruto sighed and smoothed a hand through his long, unruly bangs. "Yes. But I just wanted to protect them," he said quietly. "I didn't want to become…this." He gestured to himself with a sweep of his hand. "If I had thought that it would serve the same purpose, I would rather have died."

Gaara knew better than to take offense to that, himself being a Jinchuuriki. Naruto accepted him, despite the One-Tail's willingness to be exactly where he was. "But because you became a Jinchuuriki," he reasoned, "you can now protect your precious people again. Especially the one that you called your best friend; Sasuke, was it?" The question was guarded. Gaara didn't know _how_ he felt about Naruto having someone so obviously dear to him back in his life. It had always just been the two of them, mainly. Not even the redhead's siblings compared to what he felt for the Nine-Tails.

Reluctantly, Naruto turned his head to the side and fixed his gaze on the ground. "Yeah."

"As a Jinchuuriki, you can protect them with reputation alone. You couldn't have done that before."

The Nine-Tails narrowed his eyes in anger at the floor. "_They _joined on their own. They don't need protection from me."

"Maybe, maybe not," Gaara conceded, knowing full well that Naruto would protect them whether they wanted him to or not,"but doesn't it seem strange that your old friends are here, with the kid, and on the Jinchuuriki floor?"

Naruto stared blankly at the wall over Gaara's shoulder. Of course it seemed odd. So many thoughts raced through his head at the moment. Why were they there? Did they know he was alive? Did they know he was here? Maybe they thought he was dead and were here by mere coincidence? But why would they even join Orochimaru's ranks? They were each a part of a powerful family; they had no need to become members of a criminal world for any reason. So why? Why were they _here_?

Gaara took his silence as agreement. "Something is going on, and without your Jinchuuriki status, there is no way you would be able to find out what it is."

"You're right, unfortunately," Naruto said with a sigh.

The One-Tail Jinchuuriki gave his friend a moment to his thoughts before asking: "Are you going to tell them who you are?"

Naruto's head snapped up so sharply Gaara was surprised it didn't keep going to lay flat against the boy's back. _Yes_, Gaara thought, _he is still a boy. No matter how he appears, he is still only seventeen._

"_No_," he hissed. "Knowing Sasuke, he'd probably start a riot or something."

"They will figure it out eventually."

"Over my dead body," Naruto replied resolutely. Gaara hoped it didn't come to that.

**…**

Orochimaru turned to look at the person who dared interrupt the limited time that he had to himself. He forced some of his anger down when he noticed his most trusted subordinate standing just inside the doorway to his office with a piece of paper in his hands. "What did you find out?" he demanded.

"Well, to be honest," Kabuto replied, "nothing."

"What do you mean 'nothing'?"

"I mean just that, sir," Kabuto said. "There is absolutely no record of the four of them before now."

"There is always a record."

"Well, yes, there are minor things, but that's just it. The only details are where they went to school, where they grew up, parents' names, etcetera. But it seems almost like they didn't truly – well, not _exist_, but…What's the word I'm looking for? _Live_ – It doesn't seem like they actually lived the lives that are represented on this piece of paper. No one knows them."

"That isn't that unusual, is it?" Orochimaru asked. "Most of our recruits are social outcasts looking for a place to fit in."

"No, you're right. They all have criminal records, though, and yet it still seems as if no one knows them."

"What are their crimes?"

Kabuto flipped through some sheets of paper to find the one he was searching for. "The girl, Sakura Izumi, was arrested for pick pocketing and armed robbery. Kiba Kanzaki, assault and battery of a civilian, Shikamaru Hata, trespassing and destruction of property, and Sasuke Fukudo, breaking and entering, theft, and arson."

"That's it?"

Kabuto stared at Orochimaru for a moment uncomprehendingly. "Yes, sir."

"Then why have you disturbed me? Those are petty crimes compared to what has been committed by members of our organization."

Kabuto hesitated a moment before flipping through his pages again. "Uh, well, I did discover something interesting. Do you recall where we got Kyuubi from?"

Orochimaru thought for a moment. "Konohagakure, was it not?"

"Precisely," Kabuto said, nodding.

"What is so significant about that?"

Kabuto smirked, pushing his glasses back up his nose with one finger. "Turns out four individuals recently vanished without a trace. Sometime around Recruitment, actually."

"And you think these four missing individuals are our mysterious new Genin?" Orochimaru pondered over this for a while.

"I have a hunch, yes."

"And who are these missing individuals?"

Kabuto again flipped through his papers while speaking. "I'm having some Jounin look into it as we speak to get a positive I.D. but an inside source at the mayor's office tells me that some rich kids randomly stopped hanging around Konoha but no one seems to miss them."

"Is it really so unusual for the privileged to take a trip?" Orochimaru asked as if to a child.

Kabuto cleared his throat. "No, but the group in itself is unusual."

"Names?" Orochimaru demanded impatiently.

"Well, like I said, it's still just speculation and none of them have a reason to become a criminal, but – "

"_Names._"

Kabuto immediately stopped his train of thought and began ticking off names from his notes. "All I've been able to determine is that they are from the Nara, Haruno, Inuzuka, and Uchiha families."

"I see…When you said rich kids, you meant rich, _influential_ kids." Orochimaru fell silent, lost in thought for a moment. "Well!" He suddenly chimed with a clap of his hands. "What a coincidence," he said sarcastically. "Keep digging on that issue and report back with whatever you find. Now, what do you have on Haku Yuki?"

Kabuto blinked at the sudden change of subject. He was sure his boss would be very interested in this new…coincidence. Shrugging to himself, he said: "Seems he was telling the truth, Lord Orochimaru. We really had a large haul at this year's recruitment. There was no other option but to put those four in the Jinchuuriki suite."

"Perhaps," Orochimaru conceded, "but why in the Nine-Tails' suite? Why the most dangerous of the Nine?"

"When he was questioned, he claimed that it was so they could keep an eye on the hostage child," Kabuto replied.

Orochimaru tapped a finger to his chin. "Would it not make more sense for him to move some Jounins instead? They would be more suited than a new recruit."

"It would," Kabuto agreed. "His reasoning for that was that the child would be more willing to listen to the more gentler ways of the Genins than the seasoned brutality of a Jounin."

Orochimaru narrowed his eyes in suspicion. "Seems a little _too_ thought out."

"My thoughts exactly," Kabuto replied, a little smugly. "My men are still watching him closely for signs of betrayal."

The underworld lord nodded with approval before asking: "And what of the new Genin?"

"Also being watched."

"Good. Put some eyes on Kyuubi as well. If these Genin are in fact from Konohagakure, he may recognize them. Perhaps they can provide the leverage we need to…_encourage_ Kyuubi to take us to the top." He chuckled with cruel delight.

Kabuto leered. "Yes, sir."

**…**

"You're back!"

Naruto glared at the bubbly child. How was he supposed to distance himself and retain the role of cruel killer when his old best friends were living in the same space with him, and this insufferable child insisted on attaching himself to Naruto's leg every time the kid saw him!? It'd been a week since his injury and now it seemed like the boy thought Naruto would disappear one day and so he needed to hang onto the Jinchuuriki to prevent it. Of course, there was a chance that he _could_ disappear, by means of dying, he speculated. That was just one hazard of the job out of many, however.

"Off," he grunted, with a harsh kick to the boy; not one that would do lasting damage, but enough to hurt. He saw the glares he received around the room at that action and was reminded again that something was definitely up. How had they all ended up in the same room? _His _room? It seemed much too orchestrated to him. He was relieved (or so he told himself), however, that it appeared they didn't know that he was there, that he was a Jinchuuriki, or that he was even alive for that matter. Which left two probable explanations: they really had decided to join Orochimaru's ranks (he mentally scoffed at this), or they had come for the boy. While it seemed more likely that they had come for the child, he still didn't know how they had managed to get in without their true identities being discovered (he had found out that they were using fake names soon after finding them in his suite), how they had gotten rooms with him or the kid, and why. As far as he knew, they didn't know Konohamaru before coming here and Konohamaru didn't seem to know them.

Naruto thought about it. His best-friend Sasuke, his former-crush Sakura, his other-best-friend Kiba, and his sort-of-good-friend Shikamaru were here in the criminal underworld with fake names, probably-fake criminal backgrounds, didn't know he was alive, and were severely protective of Konohamaru. They were definitely here for the kid and if it was obvious to Naruto, it wasn't going to be long before it was obvious to Orochimaru. So now, the Jinchuuriki had a choice to make: 1) ostracize the child in order to maintain his image and protect everyone involved, or 2) protect the child in order to protect his friends by allowing them to maintain a low profile and as a result, putting himself at risk and possibly those at home that he loved. It made it difficult that four of those loved someones were right here in the clutches of the person he loathed the most.

His head spun. One week. _A whole week_ he'd spent on this decision and he still hadn't figured out what he was going to do. He'd been off-and-on cold and warm (slightly) the whole time because he couldn't make up his mind while trying to maintain that nothing was different to the other Jinchuuriki. The Trials and the Jinchuuriki program were coming up so he had to be at his best but he just _couldn't focus._ How could he with all of the distractions around him?

With a cold, withering glare, he strode past the boy on the ground, ignoring the tears that welled up in the child's eyes, and locked himself in his room.

**…**

Sasuke strolled slowly through the space designated as the lunch room by Orochimaru while feigning aimless wandering. Meanwhile, his eyes searched ceaselessly for Haku. He had received a message from one of the other Jounin to meet the man here for some important information. To remain inconspicuous, he'd left the other three with Konohamaru back upstairs. If they all showed up to talk with a Jounin, someone was bound to get suspicious and as the one put in charge of their mission, it was only natural that he would be the one to come.

The lunch room was a rather large space and it took him a while to 'carelessly' sift through all the people sitting wall-to-wall in the cafeteria. The place was so huge it could almost have been an underground airport. Despite that, Sasuke didn't know if it spanned the entirety of the floor they were currently on or if there were other, hidden rooms that only the higher-ranked subordinates knew. He cursed the fact that in order to find out, he would have to find a way to secretly make friends among the ranks or find a way to be promoted faster.

Finally, he spotted the familiar figure that he was looking for. Instead of making a beeline for the man, he first went to the coffee machine and poured himself a cup. It was strong and black and he wrinkled his nose at the smell, but it didn't matter; he wouldn't be drinking it.

Appearing to be searching for a seat, he weaved through the throngs of people and tables and pretended to just see an empty seat, right across from Haku and down a few chairs. He sat down and stared into his cup as he waited for some of the other table's occupants to leave, as he knew Haku would. Resigned, he realized he would have to drink the disgusting liquid before him if he was going to sit here or risk looking like an idiot for getting coffee and not even tasting it. He tried not to make faces as the bitter liquid touched his tongue.

Eventually, the other occupants trickled off and he leaned imperceptibly towards Haku in order to hear the soft words that he knew would soon come.

"You have your first mission," Haku said almost silently in between tiny bites of food.

"Is that good or bad?" Sasuke wanted to know.

"Both," the Jounin admitted.

Sasuke's brow wrinkled slightly. "How so?"

"You'll have a chance to move up in the ranks by completing this job," he said, "but you could also die."

"I take it he tries to kill off the weak Genin?"

Haku was silent for a moment. "I think he suspects something," he finally said.

Sasuke felt goosebumps arise. _So soon?_ "Orochimaru, you mean?"

"Yes."

"What makes you say that?"

The Jounin almost looked apologetic. "He's sending you on a mission with the Nine Tails."

Sasuke barely repressed an incredulous shout. They were going on a mission with a Jinchuuriki!? And the Kyuubi no Kitsune at that!? He swallowed. "All of us?"

Haku started to shake his head and stopped himself. "That was his plan. I changed it a little bit so that the girl didn't go. I convinced Kabuto that it would be best if someone was left to keep an eye on the boy."

Sasuke stared unblinking into his cooling coffee. They were going on a mission with a Jinchuuriki, which meant that it was going to be a dangerous one. Was he prepared for this? Were any of them prepared for this? What if Kyuubi decided that they were a burden and decided to kill them? What if they were killed by the ones they would be sent to fight? Were they going to be ordered to kill someone? This must have been what Kakashi had been hinting at when he said that they would be forced to commit crimes in order to finish this job. The officer had said that their crimes would be pardoned but did that include murder? Would any of them even be able to go through with it? He swallowed, trying to force down the rising panic. "How soon do we go?"

"I wasn't told. I'm sure Kyuubi knows so if you can get him to talk, it would be to your advantage." He stood up. "I suggest you start making yourselves tolerable to him if you want to make it through this."

"Wait!" Sasuke hissed quietly without removing his gaze from his coffee. "Why do you think Orochimaru is doing this?"

"Either he's on to something," Haku began, "or he's trying to test how useful you all are since you ranked so highly in the evaluations. Except for the girl, of course. After this mission, I recommend that you all do slightly less and try to make yourselves seem less capable or you just might find yourselves in a situation you'll regret."

**…**

Sasuke was still sitting in the cafeteria, staring at his long-cold coffee an hour later when Kiba, Shikamaru, and Sakura showed up with Konohamaru, escorted there by Temari and Kankuro who they had learned were the siblings of the One-Tailed Jinchuuriki. Apparently they were on somewhat good terms with Kyuubi since he stuck with their brother quite a bit, having become Jinchuuriki at the same time, so they were pretty defensive of the Nine-Tails. Kyuubi didn't seem to even take notice but the siblings had been coming to get Konohamaru the last week for lunch (he had said that they did it all the time, to which they had replied that it was in order to prevent Kyuubi from going berserk and killing the valuable hostage). Sasuke had a small suspicion that it was actually more out of respect of some sort to Kyuubi than to protect the kid.

He finally looked up when Konohamaru plopped down next to him, shooting Sasuke a big grin that painfully reminded him of a long-lost friend. He glanced away as Sakura took a seat next to them, with Kiba and Shikamaru across the table. With them rooming together, it didn't look suspicious any longer that they formed a group, especially since any normal Genin would be wanting to form pacts in order to climb the ranks, and especially so for them to help protect themselves from the Jinchuuriki they were forced to live with.

"How did it go?" Shikamaru asked quietly.

Sasuke ignored Konohamaru's curious glance that he caught from the corner of eye and merely gave a small nod to indicate that he had received the necessary information. The other three knew that he would relay it to them later when there were less ears, and especially when there wasn't a nosy child hanging on to their every word.

"Have you seen Kyuubi?" Konohamaru suddenly asked, realizing that nothing more was going to be said.

"I thought he was back at the room," Sasuke replied.

"He left," Konohamaru said, a little disappointed.

"Hn."

"Ah! There he is!"

"Konohamaru, wait!" Sakura cried as the boy bolted from his chair. She rose halfway from her seat before hesitating. Despite the child's unfounded fondness for the killer, Sakura was nevertheless terrified of the man and wasn't too keen on rushing up to him.

"You may as well sit back down," Shikamaru drawled lazily, his eyes giving away how alert he really was as he discreetly watched the arrival of the Jinchuuriki. "Doesn't seem like Kyuubi is interested in harming Konohamaru."

Sakura did as told and sat. "Doesn't seem too interested in being nice to him, either," she mumbled, embarrassed that she hadn't even _tried_ to go after the boy. She definitely wasn't cut out for the whole 'protecting' thing.

**…**

"Oomph!" Konohamaru slammed into something solid before reaching his destination and had to backpedal quickly to avoid falling flat on his backside. He looked up into the eyes of the one person he never wanted to see again besides Orochimaru: Gobi. "S-sorry," he stuttered, ducking his head and trying to slip past the Five-Tailed Jinchuuriki. He wasn't so fortunate.

"I don't think so," Gobi sneered. He still had a score to settle with this boy.

Konohamaru cried out as the Jinchuuriki grabbed his arm painfully. "Let me go," he said fearfully, tears beginning to form in his eyes.

"After the humiliation you and that damn Kyuubi put me through? I don't think so." Gobi began dragging the terrified child as he struggled fruitlessly.

"No!" Konohamaru kicked and pulled as he was being forcefully dragged towards the door he had just recently come through and he let out a choked sob. This man frightened him terribly; who knew what he would do to Konohamaru when they were alone? "No! Kyuubi!" He searched frantically for the only one who made him feel safe in this hellhole. When his eyes finally landed on him, the tears began to fall from his eyes. "Help! Kyuubi!" His heart sank when the Jinchuuriki didn't even glance at him.

"Looks like he's done playing babysitter," Gobi taunted cruelly.

Only one thought went through Konohamaru's mind: he was going to die.

**…**

Naruto tried hard to ignore the scene before him. He congratulated himself for not turning to face the boy and his fellow Jinchuuriki and for keeping the rage from showing on his face. He was even proud of himself when he didn't twitch at the sound of Konohamaru's sobs. But when he caught the look on Konohamaru's face in the reflection of the stainless steel fridge he was standing before, something in him snapped. The only thing he could think at that moment was: _Fuck it._

"Let him go," he said calmly, despite his inner turmoil. He noticed that Sasuke and the others stood stock-still before slowly moving back to their seats and sitting down, watching the commotion warily but trying not to blow their own cover. That was when Naruto knew he had made the right choice; if he hadn't intervened, they would have. At least Naruto was capable of defeating another Jinchuuriki and was too valuable for Orochimaru to throw away on suspect of betrayal. Naruto's old friends, however…

Gobi snarled at the late interruption. "Back off, Kyuubi," he warned. His voice echoed loudly in the now-silent cafeteria. The occupants seemed to hold their breath in anticipation of a Jinchuuriki face-off.

Naruto didn't even twitch at the ferocity. "Don't start something that you can't finish, Gobi. Hand over the child."

Gobi's eyes narrowed and a slow grin spread over his face. "Whatsamatter, Kyuubi, did someone finally manage to thaw that ice heart of yours?"

Naruto's face remained blank. "Hand him over, Gobi, before I kill you."

"Ah, so I'm right, then?"

Naruto had never seen the man so smug. It pissed him off. He let his most vicious grin spread across his face; it was his favorite for intimidation and it didn't fail to deliver. Gobi's smirk disappeared immediately. "The boy belongs to Orochimaru. You traumatize him, I kill you. You harm him, I kill you. No matter what you do, save for handing him over, I kill you."

Gobi's thoughts raced. He'd never been very good with evaluating a situation but as far as he could tell, he was stronger than Kyuubi. He'd never challenged the Nine-Tails of course, since he was an opportunistic Jinchuuriki (that is, he only challenged the others when they were vulnerable and he knew that he would win), but he was confident that he could beat this scrawny boy. The only reason he was the Nine-Tailed Jinchuuriki was because he was Orochimaru's favorite and the others were afraid to touch him. Well Gobi wasn't like them; he would show Orochimaru that he was wrong to put his faith into such a pathetic boy.

With a roar, he shoved the hostage child away from himself and launched at Kyuubi, making a grab for his throat. Confused, his hands grasped air and he stumbled forward to catch himself from falling. He wheeled around to face the other Jinchuuriki and realized that Kyuubi must have sidestepped him at the last moment to avoid being strangled. "Hold still!"

"As you wish," Naruto stated monotonously. He watched without fear or anticipation, his body completely relaxed, as the larger man barreled towards him. He knew of Gobi's reckless fighting style and his cowardly tactics. He would never be bested by a man like the Five-Tails.

Gobi rushed forward confidently, his fist pulled back to land a punch. Naruto merely stayed where he was until the other was close enough before he gracefully leaned to one foot, spun around backwards and kicked Gobi on the ribs under the arm the man was going to use to attack. Gobi went flying from the blow and landed on top of a table, causing it to collapse.

Naruto merely shifted to face the fallen Jinchuuriki, back on two feet. He placed his hands in his pockets, his countenance completely relaxed. "Give up," he said in a bored tone. "You're weak."

"Bullshit!" Gobi said furiously, getting up slowly. "You're only number one because Lord Orochimaru took you in and raised you to be a Jinchuuriki! The only reason you're even still around is because he's too ashamed to admit that you were a failure!"

Naruto raised an eyebrow mockingly. "I see." He tilted his head slightly in the pretense of contemplation. In reality, he was discreetly watching someone he had once cared so much about. He wanted to see Sasuke's reaction to his next words. "Then kill me."

He narrowed his eyes to maintain that he was still paying attention to Gobi while instead closely watching Sasuke. Not even a flicker of emotion other than – perhaps – surprise. So he was right; they weren't aware that he was alive, which meant that they were here for Konohamaru. He had already ruled out that they were truly joining Orochimaru; they wouldn't have kept their identities a secret. Their familial influences would be too beneficial for the bastard.

He returned his attention to Gobi when he heard a low chuckling. "You honestly believe that you scare me. How cute," he taunted. He would never admit that he _was_ unnerved by someone so much younger than him; someone who had _unwillingly_ become a part of this organization. "I shall give you your wish, though."

This time, Gobi advanced more cautiously. Naruto had to give him some credit for actually using that head of his for once. It still wouldn't help. He already knew that Gobi played dirty so he wasn't surprised when the man pulled out a large dagger from his belt and began swaying it back and forth just below his face. He was crouched slightly, ready to strike swiftly. It was an intimidation technique that Naruto knew well; it was one of the first things Mizuki had taught him.

The trick was to get Naruto to watch the knife. Most people would be overcome with fear and expectation. They would practically be mesmerized by the knife being brandished in front of their face and while they were distracted, their attacker would lunge. Unfortunately for the victim, it is just a feint in order to get them to move where the attacker wants them: into the real attack that they won't be able to dodge. Usually, when this technique is employed, it involves another weapon. Naruto's suspicions were confirmed when he noted that Gobi's other hand, the one without the dagger in it, was hovering at the ready at his side and slightly behind himself. This indicated to Naruto that there was another weapon handy in a back pocket. Now he just had to use that knowledge to his advantage.

As he had anticipated, Gobi thrust forward with the dagger in his hand, at the same time pulling out a pocket knife and quickly flicking it open. Naruto dodged the dagger, lest Gobi somehow get lucky and predict Naruto's reaction. He didn't dodge to the left, however, as Gobi had tried to get him to do. Since Gobi had aimed at Naruto's right side with his right hand, it would only make sense for a normal victim to dodge to the left, where he would have more time and space to move. Gobi would then thrust or throw the pocket knife he had in his left hand at Naruto and strike a death blow. Since Naruto was aware of the trap, he simply dodged to the right, knocking the hand with the dagger out of the way to help prevent himself from getting hurt since it would take more effort and speed to get out of the weapon's path. Obviously Gobi had not been expecting it.

Naruto used Gobi's momentum as he moved into the real attack to spin him around, disarm him of his pocket knife, confiscate his dagger, and hold him in a headlock with the dagger at the Five-Tails' throat.

He felt the man swallow; watched it move the blade slightly from where Naruto was pressing it to his throat. A Jinchuuriki was supposed to relish this moment; it was supposed to be an honor to know that he had another's life in his hands. They were supposed to crave it.

Naruto hated it.

The first time he had taken a life, he'd thrown up. The tenth time, he wanted to run away. The thirtieth time, he wanted to die. After that, he went numb. He was a weapon. He was trained to kill on command. That was when he had realized: his life was no longer his. No matter how much he wanted it, he would never return to the light, to his friends, to Konoha. He was forever shadowed in darkness and would have to settle for protecting the ones he had once been close to behind the scenes. Maybe he couldn't do it directly, but every time he killed someone, he told himself: _You're doing it for them. If you don't kill these people, someone will kill them on Orochimaru's orders. It's all for them._

He'd lost track of how many he had killed over the years after that. He had allowed himself to become the weapon that he was supposed to be. Jinchuuriki meant human sacrifice, after all. He had sacrificed everything he had, everything he was, all for the ones he had loved.

And so he watched. He watched the controlled disgust flicker through Sasuke's eyes, the fear on Kiba's face, the wrinkle on Shikamaru's brow from horror, the fear and horror on Sakura's entire being, and the terrified tears drip down Konohamaru's face. He watched it all as he slid the dagger across Gobi's throat. He continued to watch as the blood flowed from the wound. He watched as he released the body in his arms and allowed it to slowly slide to the floor. He watched, even as blood pooled at his feet.

And he felt the cold hand of loss grip the organ in his chest that he had long forgotten about. He let go, once again, of the tiny hope that had arisen at the appearance of his friends that he would free himself from the darkness that had swallowed him up long ago.

It was then that Naruto came to a realization as he tore his gaze away from those people of the light to stare at the growing pool of blood at his feet.

There was nothing left for him but to embrace the shadows.

**…**

Konohamaru couldn't stop the tears that slipped down his face. Even though Gobi had been a terrible person, he hadn't wanted Kyuubi to kill the man in order to protect him. He'd just wanted Kyuubi to take him away again to a safe place. He stared down at the dead man. He had never seen anyone die before…

He hiccupped painfully, not bothering to try and quiet himself. Lifting his eyes to the top Jinchuuriki, he only cried harder. Konohamaru looked into Kyuubi's eyes and saw the despair hidden there. He knew no one saw it; they didn't bother out of fear. But Konohamaru saw the pain, the regret, and he knew the Jinchuuriki was suffering. Why couldn't anyone see?

Kyuubi turned to walk away and Konohamaru knew that the man would be lost if he let him walk away feeling every bit the monster everyone thought him to be. Without even thinking about it, Konohamaru ran to him and grabbed the hem of Kyuubi's shirt, pulling gently. Kyuubi stopped immediately but didn't turn to the boy. Instead, he merely tilted his head back and to the side, just enough to see Konohamaru out of the corner of his eye.

Konohamaru sniffed. "Thank you," he said on a sob. He was scared. Everyone kept telling him that Kyuubi was a killer but he could ignore what they said since he had never seen it for himself. But now, now that he had watched those hands take the life of another, he felt fear wriggle its way into his chest, but instead of recoiling, he forced himself to chase after this lonely person. If he didn't, he knew that the Kyuubi he had been fond of would be gone forever, being replaced by a shell of the man he had known.

Finally, Kyuubi turned fully towards him, a look in his eye that Konohamaru didn't recognize. It was not frightening, however, so Konohamaru didn't feel the need to release the fabric of Kyuubi's shirt. They stood there for what seemed like hours before Kyuubi returned his attention forward and strode back towards the fridge he had been standing before earlier. Not being told not to, Konohamaru followed hesitantly a few steps away, no longer holding onto the Jinchuuriki's shirt. He didn't know how to interact with the man anymore.

When Kyuubi was done searching through the fridge and turned around to hold something out to Konohamaru, he smiled, unsure. Taking the proffered apple, he chanced a look at Kyuubi's eyes. Seeing the bloodlust from earlier was gone, he cleared his throat. "Um…Come sit with us?" he asked carefully.

Kyuubi stared at him for a moment before striding towards Konohamaru's table. The boy grinned and jogged to catch up. He tried to ignore the silence and stares from all the occupants in the room like Kyuubi did but he found it difficult. There had to be a hundred people in the cafeteria at the moment and not a single person was engaged in personal conversation. It was unnerving.

Not as unnerving as the dead body lying at the front where the food was displayed.

They reached the table and Konohamaru flopped down next to Sasuke again, giving him a hesitant smile, before turning to look at Kyuubi again. He merely stood with his back to the table, his eyes constantly roaming, much like a sentinel would. It made Konohamaru feel safe for the first time since he had gotten there. But it also made him feel uncomfortable.

"Um…" Kyuubi turned to look at the boy, waiting for him to speak. Not knowing what to say, he held up the apple the Jinchuuriki had given him. "I don't like the skin…"

For a moment, he thought Kyuubi was going to ignore him. He even heard Kiba scoff in disbelief behind him but he paid the man no mind other than to briefly wonder how he had had the restraint to leave the dog in their suite. Soon after, however, Kyuubi silently held out his hand. Konohamaru smiled and placed the apple in the blonde's palm. He watched as the Jinchuuriki pulled out a pocket knife – he quickly repressed a shudder and scolded himself for thinking the person before him would cause him harm – and proceeded to slowly and methodically peel the piece of fruit, eating the skin himself. When he was finished, he even cored the apple and cut it into slices before handing it to Konohamaru.

The boy beamed at Kyuubi when he handed over the fruit slices and dug into the sweet apple with relish. Konohamaru noticed that the hardness in those lonely blue/ red eyes seemed to soften ever so slightly.

From then on, Konohamaru made it a point to have Kyuubi eat with them every chance he could and to get an apple with each meal. The others even seemed to warm up to Kyuubi – if only slightly – and appeared to be a little comfortable with having him around. They would never forget the ruthless way he had murdered the Five-Tails, however, or the sight of his body being taken away. Kabuto had directed them, explaining that the body of someone as strong as a Jinchuuriki would be wasted if it were not examined and experimented on thoroughly. It had been disturbing.

For now, though, Konohamaru was content to put the event at the back of his mind in favor of remaining close to Kyuubi. It seemed the others were as well, but for different reasons. He knew that the four Genin were there to help him but he didn't know what that meant for Kyuubi. The rest of the people in the organization, he didn't care about. They could all rot in hell for all he cared. Somehow, however, he didn't think that things would end well for Kyuubi. And it saddened him greatly.

**I hope you all enjoyed this chapter and will forgive me for the long delay. A lot of things have happened since I have written last, and let's just say that none of it has been good. Reviews would certainly lift my spirits.**

***Bows* I thank you all for reading, it is definitely an honor that there are so many people who are into this story.**

**~Rider~**


	14. Just One More Obstacle

**Chapter Thirteen**

Haku had come to Sasuke shortly after the incident in the cafeteria and informed the KPD officer that he had been notified that Kakashi wished to speak with him for an update. Sasuke had been taken to a more secluded portion of Orochimaru's hideout and given strict instructions that he had ten minutes, no more, to use the phone within one of the small rooms. Haku explained that it was a place used to make confidential calls and that this was how he kept in touch with the police department and that if they were caught, the repercussions would be severe. The feminine man was now currently watching the hallway for any signs of another person approaching.

Kakashi had been silent for a while now. Sasuke had already informed him of the events up until this point. The man had been appalled to find out who they were rooming with and that that person had even killed someone right in front of his young agents and the mayor's son. The temporary Chief of Police had been even _more_ appalled, however, when he found out that they were all now on semi-good terms with the murderous Jinchuuriki and were even taken to having small – albeit usually one-sided – conversations with the assassin.

Aware of his time constraint, Sasuke cleared his throat. "Kakashi," he said in warning, reminding the other man of his situation.

"_Oh!_" Kakashi seemed to have just remembered that he was on the phone. "_Sorry, I was too busy thinking about idiot rookies._"

Sasuke glared though he knew the other man couldn't see it. "I know you didn't just want to know about our end. What info did you need to give us?"

There was a pause on the line. "_We have a serious problem. I was working on the file for this case a few days ago and discovered that someone else had also recently accessed it._"

That didn't seem like anything unusual to Sasuke. "Isn't it common for more than one officer to be working on a case?"

"_Well, yes,_" came Kakashi's reply, "_but not for this particular case. Because of the risks, Asuma and I concluded that it would be best to keep this information confidential. Given the vast influence that Orochimaru has, it was decided that only I would have access to the file. Not even Asuma has the password because of his personal involvement. Despite that, I noticed a viral trail indicating that an outside source had opened and viewed it._"

Sasuke's heart began to pound. Everything was on that one file: the mission, their identities, everything! "Is our mission compromised?"

Kakashi sighed. "_It's hard to say. I can't tell for certain what all information the intruder gained but I do know that Orochimaru has his hand in more than we could ever have imagined._"

"What does that mean?"

"_Does the name Danzo Shimura ring a bell?_"

Sasuke pondered the question for a moment. "Mayor Hiruzen Sarutobi's Head of Security?"

"_That's the one._"

"What does he have to do with this?"

"_He's the one who accessed the file, and apparently, he's been meeting with someone in secret; someone going by the name of Sai._"

Sasuke narrowed his eyes in annoyance. "So?"

"_Apparently, this 'Sai' person is one of Orochimaru's Jounin that works out of another, smaller faction building. It's something that will need to be investigated further but watch your back, Sasuke. Danzo may be working for Orochimaru, and if he is, this mission has just gotten more dangerous than we first anticipated."_

**…**

To prepare for their upcoming mission for Orochimaru, Sasuke, Kiba, and Shikamaru had been given permission to accompany Kyuubi to the private training room. It was packed full of exercise machines, punching bags, targets, blunted practice weapons, and the like.

And it was also packed with Jinchuuriki and what Kyuubi had reluctantly told them were Jinchuuriki candidates.

Sasuke had found that getting information out of the Nine-Tails was like trying to pull teeth from a tiger: dangerous, nerve-wracking, and difficult as hell to accomplish. He didn't know whether the blonde was socially inept, didn't have the desire to talk, or was forbidden from speaking by Orochimaru but considering the other Jinchuuriki that their group had come across weren't very prone to talking, Sasuke thought that it was most likely the latter. That, or they were all just so traumatized and mentally anguished that they were afraid to talk. Perhaps, even, they just felt more superior.

Whatever the case, it was down-right hard to learn about your enemy and try to form some type of bond with that enemy when they were so tight-lipped. Haku had told him to try and become 'tolerable' to the Jinchuuriki if they were going to survive the task that Orochimaru had assigned to them and Sasuke had no reason to doubt that it would be necessary. Just the fact that they were accompanying a Jinchuuriki told him that. Glancing around the room and watching the ferocity in which the Jinchuuriki trained for something called the 'Challenges' just made it all that much more apparent.

He glanced to his left to see Shikamaru give him a nod to indicate that he was following a similar thought process. He could even feel the tension rolling off of Kiba from his right, though the brunette gave no other indication of his nerves beyond that.

Deciding that standing there wasn't going to help them be ready for whatever was in store for him, he squared his shoulders and took in a breath. Kyuubi had finally returned from acquiring their temporary passes for them, upon Kabuto's orders, and handed them to each of the three young men. Somehow, Sasuke knew that they would never return to this room without the Nine-Tails. Not with all of these murderers hanging around. He repressed a shudder and found himself feeling grateful that Sakura wasn't here. She'd be trembling in her shoes.

He finally released the breath he had been holding and looked up at Kyuubi. The man was taller than he was, but only slightly, and looking into the Jinchuuriki's blue/red eyes, he couldn't help but feel like the person before him had been wizened beyond his years. He knew that the Jinchuuriki had to be younger than he himself, but without seeing the face, you wouldn't know it. At Recruitment, when all Sasuke was able to see were those eyes concealed behind the mask, he had thought that the young man was actually in his thirties or forties. As it was, he still appeared to be a teenager. What would it be like to be so young and forced to live a life filled with violence and blood, created by your own hands?

Sasuke mentally shook off those thoughts. "Where do we start?" he asked, proud that his voice was firm and confident. Though he wasn't a criminal and knew nothing of a gang's workings, fighting he knew. He'd learned self defense and had taken a firearms at the Police Academy. He'd been at the top of the class in that department and was confident in his skills.

Kyuubi inclined his head slightly in the direction of a life-like dummy on one of the outer edges of the room and began to lead them over. Sasuke and the other two followed in tow, aware of the harsh glares thrown their way. The Jinchuuriki and candidates were not happy that outsiders were allowed into their 'territory,' as it were. Previously, it had only been used for them and it seemed that they wanted to keep it that way.

When Kyuubi stopped, Sasuke redirected his attention to the dummy. He noticed small knives set aside on a rolling cart and easily concluded that they were meant to throw them at the enemy dummy. His suspicions were confirmed when Kyuubi picked up a handful and didn't even hesitate to aim before launching them at the target. Two hit the forehead dead-on, while another three embedded themselves right where the heart would be located. How the Jinchuuriki had hit two vital areas seemingly without aiming, and with only one hand, was beyond Sasuke's comprehension. It would take immense precision and skill, along with a keen eye to accomplish that.

When Kyuubi scooped up another handful, Sasuke waited with baited breath to see if the first throw had been sheer luck. He didn't know whether to cheer for their odds of survival or fear even more for their lives when the throwing knives hit exactly as they had before. He settled for silent awe.

**…**

"Man, I'm so sore…"

"Stop complaining, Kiba, we're all sore," Sasuke snapped.

Sakura and Konohamaru gave them worried looks. "Are you guys okay?" the redhead asked cautiously. She'd never seen them so exhausted before.

Shikamaru answered her by immediately flopping down on the couch and closing his eyes to doze.

"What happened?" she asked.

"We went and trained with Kyuubi," Kiba answered. "He kicked our asses."

"He attacked you!?" she nearly screeched.

"No," Sasuke said in irritation, "he put us through a 'beginner-level Jinchuuriki training course,' as Kabuto called it."

"Ain't nothing beginner about it!" Akamaru whined and pushed his nose against his master's hand, troubled by the young man's ragged appearance. Kiba patted his dog's head affectionately before grabbing Shikamaru's legs and flinging them off to the side so he could take a seat. His only response was one eye opening tiredly for a half a second. "I know Akamaru," he said softly, "I do look a sight, don't I?"

"So what all did you have to do?" Konohamaru asked. He'd never been allowed to go with Kyuubi anywhere and was slightly envious of them. Though, considering his history with Gobi, he didn't think he really wanted to run into any more Jinchuuriki other than Kyuubi for a while…Speaking of which: "And where is Kyuubi?"

"He's meeting with Orochimaru about something. Kabuto came to get him," Sasuke called from the kitchen where he was getting a glass of water. He brought it back to the living area and sat down in a vacant seat.

"As for what we had to do – everything!"

"Kiba," Sakura said, "that isn't exactly very helpful."

"Well, let's see…We had to practice hitting vital points on a dummy with throwing knives, practice punching and kicking on a punch bag, run on a treadmill, lift weights, practice with wooden poles, fight with blunted knives, alternate attacking and defending against an opponent, and finally, we had to fight Kyuubi."

Shikamaru snorted at Kiba's explanation. "More like get our asses handed to us by Kyuubi."

Sasuke stared silently down into his glass of water, his bangs hiding his face. "We couldn't even touch him, Sakura. He was like a perfect weapon instead of a human being. Whatever we threw at him, he countered without even thinking about it. He took down _all three of us at once_ without any effort at all. And he was holding back, only fighting at 'beginner Jinchuuriki level.' If he wanted to kill us, he wouldn't have to do it when our guard is down."

The five occupants of the room all pondered this for a moment. Though they were slightly less wary of Kyuubi since he had started eating semi-regularly with them, they were still cautious. He was, after all, a very dangerous person. Today just made that much more blatantly obvious.

Suddenly, Konohamaru looked up and beamed at the rest of them. "Well, that just means he likes us!"

Somehow, the rest of them weren't so sure.

**…**

"Kyuubi," Orochimaru addressed him vehemently with a cruel glare.

"Yes, sir."

"I assume you know why you are here."

"Yes." He had been expecting this confrontation for days, but Orochimaru had been busy with other matters.

"Care to explain why I am now a Jinchuuriki short? How am I going to fill the position of Five-Tails so close to the Trials and Challenges, pray tell?" he hissed menacingly.

"I do not know, Master Orochimaru." Naruto had already decided that it would probably be best to suck up as much as possible. He'd decided that he rather enjoyed seeing his friends again, hearing them joke with each other, hearing their occasionally laughter. It made his chest swell with warmth and though he would never reveal who he was to them, he would protect them with his life. That is, until they escape with Konohamaru. Then he would retreat back into the darkness where he belongs.

Finally, Orochimaru exploded. "You don't know!? You kill one of my better Jinchuuriki at such a major point in time and you tell me you don't know how it happened!?" He stopped and took a deep breath, before glaring at his best Jinchuuriki. "What happened to your restraint? There have never been problems before now with you and the other Jinchuuriki and now you kill one and don't even know why you did it?"

Naruto said nothing.

Orochimaru leveled him with a hard stare. "It is because of them, isn't it." It was a statement, not a question. "Your behavior changed the moment the brat and those four Genin showed up. Did you know them?"

Naruto felt an unfamiliar surge of panic clench in his chest but gave nothing away. "No. I have never met them before." His voice was flat, uninterested, just like it always was.

The Snake narrowed his eyes. "I will be watching you. You, and your new companions. Don't deny it – you've been spending an unusual amount of time with them. If I think that your actions or behavior are even a little bit off, I will take matters into my own hands. Do you understand?"

Naruto's gaze turned cold but he made no other show of disrespect. "Yes, sir."

"Good. You leave for your mission tomorrow night. Make sure those Genin are prepared. Dismissed."

**…**

The short trip back to his room had his nerves on end, though he didn't allow it to show on his face. He had promised himself that he would protect his former friends and the hostage child for as long as they were here, and he would continue to do so. From now on, however, he would have to watch his behavior more closely. He couldn't make another slip-up like he did with Gobi. He was known for his temper when he first became a Jinchuuriki, but he was also known for his restraint and control, even now.

He closed his eyes as memories bombarded him. The stench of blood permeated his senses, the screams of the dying filled his head. He could still remember the terror he felt when he went through his Trials. At night, he sometimes would lay awake in the darkness, the sounds of voices and terrified crying floating around him. The first time he had killed a person was in the dark chamber that he and fourteen others were herded into to begin the Trials. They were blind in that room. Five of them were given crude weapons in the form of hand-made shivs.

It had been like something from a horror movie. Naruto had been the only person there against his will, which already put him at a disadvantage, but to make matters worse, he had not been one of the five to be given a weapon. Instead, he had had to choke back a sob as he was wildly tackled to the ground – it wasn't safe to give away your position with unnecessary noises – and stabbed in the arm. The fear he felt had been crippling. Somehow, not knowing what was going on around him was more terrifying than seeing what was going to happen to him.

Naruto shook his head. He didn't remember exactly what happened after that but there had been a dead weight on his chest when he came back into full awareness. The shiv had somehow gotten into Naruto's hand and was embedded deep into his attacker's chest. Orochimaru had later told him that his survival instincts had kicked in.

From there, he had relied on sound to hear when others came near him. He never sought the others out; he felt that it would make him no better than the rest of the candidates: wannabe killers. But that wasn't who he was. He had told himself that even as he shoved his crude weapon deep into the bodies of anyone who ventured too near him. It was the only way he kept himself sane throughout the ordeal. He would kill, but only in defense; he never sought anyone out.

Yet somehow, he was the only one who emerged from that chamber. It had been the start of the Jinchuuriki Trials and his steady climb in the Jinchuuriki ranks. When he obtained Nine-Tails status, he was told that what he did in one year had taken others up to ten.

He reached his doorway and forced himself to forget the past, as he had always done. Some would call it cowardly to dismiss it like he did but it was the only way for him to keep moving forward.

Naruto keyed in his pass code and stepped into his living quarters. The first thing that he noticed was how deathly quiet it was and he immediately tensed and prepared himself for the unexpected. As he glanced around the room, however, he slowly relaxed. Sasuke was sitting off by himself in a chair, Shikamaru, Sakura, and Konohamaru were perching stiffly on the couch with Kiba and Akamaru at their feet on the floor. What had the atmosphere so uncomfortable was the intimidating redhead standing off in a corner, leaning against the wall with his arms crossed, his siblings standing not far away.

"Shukaku," Naruto acknowledged with a small nod.

Gaara glanced around the room for a moment before settling his gaze back on Naruto. The question was clear: could they speak in this company? Naruto nodded. "I heard that you were meeting with Orochimaru."

"Yes."

"About Gobi?" He knew the answer but Naruto inclined his head slightly in the affirmative. "What are your orders?"

"Lay low, no more mistakes."

"What was your punishment?"

Naruto briefly glanced at his old friends and the child seated on the couch. They were being surprisingly quiet. Were they nervous with Gaara around? "Undecided, apparently."

Gaara's eyebrows rose skeptically – well, if he had them. During his Trials, they had been singed when he was given the task of fighting to the death with another candidate in a room entirely engulfed in flames. It was a Trial that Naruto himself didn't have. There were many different sections of Trials and they were chosen at random out of a tin by the candidate himself. This particular Trial was based on the elements. Gaara had gotten fire whereas Naruto had gotten water. Normally, Naruto would have been grateful for this if it weren't for the fact that in Naruto's Elemental Trial, he had been forced under water until he nearly passed out, pulled back out for a few precious seconds of air, and then shoved under once more. The torture lasted two hours. The point of these Trials, according to Orochimaru, was to be able to override pain and fear with the mind. Gaara had to force himself to fight in the excruciating heat while Naruto had to stay conscious under water for long periods of time without panicking or be left to drown.

"I find that…disconcerting," Gaara stated, not looking the least bit concerned; his face remained impassive as always.

Naruto stared at Gaara for a few moments and could feel the tension in the room. The two particular groups didn't exactly mix well in the same setting and he could almost taste the nervousness in the air. If situations were different, he would almost find this particular company humorous: Two Jinchuuriki, two Jounin, and a hostage child and four…well, Naruto still didn't know what they were or how they were tasked with taking care of the kid but he did know that they did not belong in his world, here in the shadows.

"The Five-Tails is dead," he finally replied. "The Jinchuuriki Trials and Challenges are coming up. It's a big event for Orochimaru and his Jounin; he can't afford losing another at the moment."

Kankuro butt in suddenly. "Who do you think he will use to replace Gobi until the Trials and Challenges are over?"

The two Jinchuuriki were silent. Honestly, in the years that they had both been here, this kind of situation had never come up before. Was there a protocol for this type of thing? Neither knew the answer to that.

Suddenly, Temari seemed to have an idea. "Maybe Tails one through four will move up a rank and Orochimaru will give a candidate a temporary position as the One-Tail? That way, when the Trials start, the candidate will still be put to the test by all the other candidates and he'll have an opportunity to take his true rank in the Challenges?"

Naruto thought about this for a moment. "No," he said thoughtfully, "Orochimaru is too picky about his Jinchuuriki. When Shukaku and I were candidates, we had nine different Trials, each more difficult than the last, before we had the opportunity to challenge the Jinchuuriki at the time and earn our Marks. He won't allow anyone to skip out on the Trials and ruin his fun. Not only that, but who's to say that the 'promising' candidate that he chooses would be capable of surviving to the end of the Trials? Out of 75 candidates, only Shukaku and I lived to challenge the Jinchuuriki that year. Besides, he won't let a Jinchuuriki move up unless he feels that they have earned it. He won't tolerate weakness in his ranks."

"Dude, I think that's the most you have _ever _talked…"

Gaara and Naruto both turned to stare blankly at Kiba for his sudden intrusion on their conversation. After a few minutes, the brunette slouched back into the foot of the couch, his shoulders hunched, and tried to hide from those unnerving stares.

Finally, Gaara returned his attention back to Naruto. "You're right. Most likely, he'll just deal with the empty spot until someone manages to take his place in the Trials or the Challenges."

"Which won't happen, little bro, you haven't let anyone beat you since Kyuubi here," Kankuro pointed out.

"Um…" All eyes turned to Konohamaru who blushed and shifted closer to Sakura anxiously. "Y-you knew each other before you were Jinchuuriki?"

"They were candidates together," Kankuro answered for them. "In fact, they used to try to murder each other all the time."

"What? Why?" Konohamaru's eyes were wide in astonishment.

Kankuro grinned. "Because it took Gaa – er, Shukaku – four years to get the opportunity to become a candidate and Kyuubi was a candidate the moment he met Orochimaru. And he didn't even _want _to become a Jinchuuriki."

Sasuke's eyes narrowed. He had thought something was odd about Kyuubi; he wasn't as malicious and blood thirsty as the others and now he knew why. "Why didn't you want to become a Jinchuuriki?"

To say that his companions were surprised that he had joined the conversation, much less to ask a question, would be an understatement based on the looks of astonishment and near-panic that they were sending him. Konohamaru was one thing – he was valuable – but for one of them to speak so openly with a Jinchuuriki was a bold move.

It was Kankuro who answered. "He wasn't given a choice on whether or not he joined Orochimaru and became a Jinchuuriki." Kankuro felt the hairs on the back of his neck stand up and chanced a glance over at Naruto. The teen looked as if he would gladly murder him at the moment. Gaara's brother involuntarily shivered at the thought of what had happened to Gobi and he mentally swore that he would never listen to his siblings again. For some reason, Gaara had wanted to subtly drop hints to these people that Kyuubi was Naruto. The redhead had said that it was for the blonde's sake but Kankuro got the feeling that it was actually to drive the others away after discovering what their former friend had become. He clamped his mouth shut and vowed to never open it in front of these people.

"You were forced?" Something clenched hard in Sasuke's chest at the thought. What if this had been Naruto, beaten and molded into a killer, a weapon? A renewed hatred for Orochimaru surged through his chest.

Naruto hesitated for only a moment before making his decision. If he were going to be able to properly protect these people, he had to keep them at arms' length. If they were to discover who he was, he had no doubt that _they_ would want to try and protect _him_. But he was the monster here; he was not the one who needed protection. At this revelation, he sneered. "At first. But then I found that I liked the power behind taking a life."

Sakura gasped and looked horrified, clutching Konohamaru to herself; Shikamaru and Kiba were wide-eyed. Sasuke, though, he didn't quite believe the young man before him. There was something that he was hiding that Sasuke couldn't identify but was aware of. And it wasn't a lust for death.

Gaara studied his companion. He knew that that was a blatant lie but said nothing. He had hoped that at least one of them would realize that the time frame combined with being forced into becoming a Jinchuuriki, and Naruto's physical attributes that hadn't changed (i.e. his blonde hair, what remained of the blue in his eyes, the near-nonexistent emotions in his eyes) would help them put two and two together and they would be revolted by the young man. Then again, he also ran the risk of them trying to 'help' Naruto. Maybe this way was better; if they thought that he was some psychopath killer, they would most likely try to avoid the teen at all costs.

However…He studied the one called Sasuke. That one was intuitive and saw more than most. Gaara would have to keep an eye on him and ensure that he didn't take Naruto away from where he belonged: right here, with Gaara, as a Jinchuuriki.

**_Not only was this chapter short but it was a long time in coming and I apologize for that. I would liked to have written more for this chapter but it's late and work comes early tomorrow (working on Christmas Eve, go figure…). _**

**_Anyway, I have the next chapter pretty much planned out so it should come sooner than this one. In fact, I'll start working on it as soon as I get home from work tomorrow. _**

**_As for this chapter, I know that there wasn't much going on but there are two reasons for this: 1) I wanted to give you all a little information on the workings of the Jinchuuriki ranks for future reference as well as some insight into what happened to Naruto during his Trials. And 2) there will be a lot of things going on in the next chapter: new developments, loads of action, tons of hardships, and now…another person to try and get in Naruto's way of happiness. I was a little torn with whether or not I wanted to use Gaara as a minor antagonist or but I decided that it was necessary. I know his character pretty well and am very fond of him, so don't think that I'm dissing him in any way. I love Gaara, he's one of my favorite characters. But I feel like in my story, without someone to save him (Example: Naruto helping him in the Kishimoto universe), Gaara would be obsessive about someone who showed any sort of kindness to him (especially considering his background with his parents). So! Gaara won't be horribly antagonistic but he will be an obstacle in Naruto's path for the coming chapters._**

**_As always, I hope you enjoyed this and will leave me some feedback via review._**

**_~Rider~_**


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